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.
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