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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| 'Riyadh pressing Hariri to step down' |
| 2010-10-27 |
| [Iran Press TV] In a sudden U-turn, Soddy Arabia has called on pro-West Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to step down to pave the way for a pro-Syrian government. The Saudis demanded Monday for Hariri to immediately step down and make way for an administration dominated by pro-Syrian ministers and Hezbullies, Israeli military intelligence website debkafile quoted its Middle East and Beirut sources as saying. The resignation call comes days after Hariri told US Deputy Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman that he was under Saudi pressure to leave office and that he was about to give into the Saudi king's demand. Feltman reportedly urged the Lebanese premier not to surrender and stay in office despite a deepening crisis triggered by a UN-backed tribunal into the liquidation of his father, late premier Rafiq Hariri in 2005. Saad Hariri's resistance prompted the Saudi mouthpiece Asharq al-Awsat to publish an article on Monday, suggesting the Lebanese prime minister had a choice in the matter. Chief Editor Tariq Alhomayed warned Hariri that he had run out of options and the only choice left for him was to follow his father's example and resign as prime minister as the senior Hariri did in 2004. The Saudi daily asserted that no Lebanese leader stepping into Hariri's shoes would be able to question the legitimacy of a UN-backed tribunal investigating his father's liquidation in 2005. Debkafile's sources, however, predicted that a pro-Syrian Sunni leader would annul the court and blame the killing of the popular prime minister on Israel -- which would ignite a war between Leb and Israel. Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... confessions by two employees of the Lebanese Alfa cell phone company have revealed that during the thirty-two days of the 2006 Leb War, Israel had controlled the company's database. Israeli sources expect Hezbullies to produce evidence proving that Israel was responsible for the Hariri murder and that Tel Aviv managed to blame the killing on Syria and Hezbullies by means of its command over Leb's telephone system. |
| Posted by:Fred |