Amer Mussa: “Evil hands seeking to destabilize Lebanon”

Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa described his visit to Lebanon as an "urgent diplomatic mission to defuse the dangerous situation" between Beirut and Damascus. However Mussa denied after meeting Premier Fouad Saniora, media reports he was carrying out any initiative linked to calls by Lebanon to convene an international court in the murder of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, or to form an Arab court for that same purpose.

After an evening meeting with President Emile Lahoud, Mussa expressed the Arab world's concern about the divide which is growing deeper each day between Lebanon and Syria.

Moussa said "We are interested in Lebanon and its stability and we are also interested in good ties between Lebanon and Syria as two brotherly and neighboring countries which have undeniable common interests and it is very damaging to neglect them or drop them."

For his part Lahoud said in a statement that he was "agreeable to all Arab League efforts to maintain better relations between Beirut and Damascus. "He also called for "solidarity among the Lebanese people" in opposition to "a multi-faceted plot targeting Lebanon by the means of a series of assassinations which have shaken the country since October 2004.

Moussa confirmed again "I have said that there are evil hands working on spreading chaos in Lebanon and establish it. They are also working on expanding the gap between the two brotherly countries, and this I reiterate. However I am not willing to talk about any political issue right now before my deliberations with Lebanese officials are concluded."

Amr Mussa will make another contact with Lebanese officials after he concludes his talks with Syrian officials.

Eventually there is no sign yet that the Arab League would convene for a special summit in a bid to ease down the fast pace of events, at a time when the Security Council is addressing the situation in the region in a very much closer manner than the Arab community ought to.

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Al-Masakin News Agency
http://al-masakin.blogspot.com