LEBANON: Arab League Secretary-General seeks end to Lebanon standoff by meeting Lebanese leaders representing both sides in the political conflict

Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa met Lebanese leaders for the second day on Wednesday (December 13) in an effort to mediate an end to a standoff between the government and the Hezbollah-led opposition that some fear could pitch the country into violence. Moussa met Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Christian leader and Hezbollah ally Michel Aoun and anti-Syrian Christian leader and former Lebanese president Amin Gemayel. "It was positive meeting and honest discussions and I hope you will see soon the positive results of all these meetings." Mousa told reporters after meeting Aoun. Lebanon's Hezbollah-led opposition has brought hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets to press for a national unity government that would give it veto power in the Cabinet. The opposition calls Siniora's Western-backed government illegitimate. But parliamentary majority leaders who control the Cabinet are refusing to give in to opposition demands, saying that would lead to greater Syrian and Iranian influence in the government. The government says the opposition is trying to undermine it to derail creation of a special international court that would try suspects implicated in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri -- a killing anti-Syrian officials blame on Damascus. Syria denies any involvement. The Arab League is pushing for a deal based on a number of contentious issues, namely the shape of the cabinet, early presidential and parliamentary elections, and passage of a law setting up an international court to try suspected killers of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

ITN Source | December 13, 2006

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