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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Assad to Riyadh: You Should Oppose the Indictment if you Want Lebanon to Remain Strong |
| 2010-12-29 |
[An Nahar] Syria's hereditary President Bashar PencilneckAssad ... who used to be referred to in the Egyptian press as the boy president... has reportedly informed Soddy Arabia that if it wanted Leb to remain strong, it should reject the indictment that will be issued by the international tribunal in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's liquidation case. "If you want Leb to remain strong, the indictment should be rejected and we should work together to stop its release," informed sources quoted Assad as telling Riyadh during the "strenuous negotiations." Assad reportedly said that the Saudi-Syrian initiative had reached semi-final results but the delay in the announcement came as a result of King of the Arabians Abdullah's illness and his travel to New York. The sources told As Safir newspaper that the Syrian president also said that confronting the "politicized indictment" would be an achievement as important as the collapse of the May 17 Agreement of 1983, which was a failed U.S.-backed attempt to create peace between Leb and Israel. Assad also reportedly had conditioned his visit to Beirut along with King of the Arabians Abdullah on an agreement to postpone the release of the indictment, the daily said. During his phone conversations with Abdullah to inquire about his health following his back surgery in New York, Assad was avoiding to discuss the settlement of the Lebanese crisis over fears of U.S. wiretapping, As Safir reported. Assad was addressing the king with codes whenever he wanted to propose a political solution, the newspaper added. As Safir said that the two leaders held a long telephone conversation on Sunday. Premier Saad Hariri's visit to New York came after the phone call, it said. According to the newspaper, Abdullah will inform Hariri about the stage that dialogue with Damascus has reached. Well-informed sources also told As Safir that the Lebanese prime minister's trip to New York hints that improvement was made in the Saudi-Syrian initiative. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 "Nice Sunni country ya got there, Kingie. Sure'd be a shame if something happened to it..." |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-12-29 16:13 |
| #1 You Should Oppose the Indictment if you Want Lebanon to |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-12-29 08:59 |