Lebanon's PM meets Saudi King over Lebanese crisis

Apr 8, 2008, 21:13 GMT

Beirut - Lebanon's prime minister Fouad Seniora met Tuesday with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to discuss the country's political crisis and inter-Arab relations, a close aide of the premier said.

Seniora, accompanied by acting Foreign Minister Tarek Mitri, held airport talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal focusing on the outcome of the Damascus Summit, which took place by the end of March.

According to Seniora's aide, the premier's talks with the Saudi monarch focused on 'the general situation and developments in Lebanon.'

The talks also covered 'Arab and international contacts to exit Lebanon from its crisis,' he said.

King Abdullah and Seniora reviewed 'efforts to convene a meeting of Arab foreign ministers to work out a settlement.'

Seniora is scheduled to fly to Doha to hold talks with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani.

Seniora's Arab tour, which has covered Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, would also include Bahrain for talks with King Hamad Bin Issa al-Khalifa.

Seniora rejected on Monday an offer made by Lebanon's Shiite house speaker Nabih Berri, who is close to the opposition led by Hezbollah, to resume national dialogue, saying only that a new president in Lebanon would sponsor all-party national talks.

'We have always said that there are no settlements (to the Lebanon crisis) without dialogue,' Seniora said at press conference in Egypt Monday.

'The person who should conduct a dialogue should be the President of the Republic,' Seniora stressed.

The majority premier is trying to gather support to convene a meeting for Arab foreign ministers to tackle the strained Lebanese-Syrian relations.

According to Berri, who visited Damascus on Monday, Syria is willing to help Lebanon's rival factions reach a national accord to end the ever-deepening Lebanese political crisis.

Berri spoke after a two-hour meeting in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Assad. It was the first such meeting in nearly two years between the Syrian president and a high-ranking Lebanese official.

Tensions between the two neighbors have increased, and Lebanon last week boycotted the Arab summit in Damascus.

Lebanon's Syrian-backed opposition is locked in a power struggle with Prime Minister Fouad Seniora's government and the sharply divided Lebanese parliament has failed to elect a president since September.

Syria-Lebanese relations soured following the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Lebanese anti-Syrian factions have blamed Syria for Hariri's death in a massive truck bombing in Beirut.

Syria, which has pulled out its forces from Lebanon under international pressure, has denied involvement.

Berri is scheduled to also travel Saudi Arabia and Egypt in a bid to promote a solution to the Lebanese crisis, Lebanese newspapers said Monday.