LEBANON: Lebanese security force shows journalists explosives and weapons seized from pro Syrian group/ Hezbollah-led protest continues as Secretary-General of Arab League seeks an end to the political crisis in Lebanon

Lebanese security forces showed journalists on Friday (December 22) explosives detonators timers and weapons which were been seized in the homes of members of a pro-Syrian group in north Lebanon on Thursday. Police surrounded some of the Beirut offices of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) -- an opposition group which responded by accusing the authorities of harassment and warned against more raids. Seven SSNP supporters or activists were arrested in the northern Koura province, including a senior member. The SSNP said most of the weapons seized dated back to the 1980s -- the height of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. A police statement confirmed the seizure and some arrests but did not say to which group the detainees and the explosives belonged. The SSNP was founded in 1932 and called for a greater Syrian state which would have included Lebanon. It is allied to the Hezbollah-led opposition, which is demanding veto power in Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's cabinet. Opposition supporters have been holding a round-the-clock protest in central Beirut since December 1 calling for Siniora to quit and pressing the opposition's demand for veto power in government. The Hezbollah-led protest continued on Friday, as Arab League chief Amr Moussa continued to hold talks in Beirut following his trip to Syria where he met Syrian president Bashar al Assad. Moussa worked with rival Lebanese leaders on Wednesday (December 20) on a draft agreement to end Lebanon's political crisis, but wide gaps remained, political sources said. Moussa is mediating in a tense stand-off pitting an anti-Syrian coalition with a majority in parliament and government against an opposition led by Hezbollah. "Prime Minister Siniora is closing the door and rejecting all the initiatives regarding the Amr Moussa (Arab League chief) initiative. I hope it will succeed but at the end this will be decided by Siniora who's taking orders from the U.S. embassy," said Husam al Haj, one of the protesters. Siniora, who has Western and Saudi support, has so far rejected demands by Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, for a decisive say in government. The opposition has staged an open-ended protest in central Beirut since Dec. 1. It has declared the government illegitimate and this week raised its demands by calling for early parliamentary elections. The showdown in Lebanon reflects regional tensions with Saudi Arabia showing increasing alarm at Iran's growing influence in the region, backed by its ally Syria.

ITN Source | December 22, 2006

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