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Polity
Article by: Reuters Published: 03 Mar 2008
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| Arab rift over Lebanon to undermine Syria summit | |
| A rift over Lebanon may hit attendance at an Arab summit in Syria this month, but a total boycott looks unlikely given pressure on Arab governments to respond to violence in Gaza. Diplomats in the Middle East say they expect the leaders of heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt as well as Jordan to stay away from the March 29-30 Damascus summit unless Lebanon can elect a president before then. But any thoughts of a complete boycott have subsided after large-scale Israeli-Palestinian violence erupted in Gaza. All three U.S. allies are now expected to send high-level delegates, though not heads of state, even without a solution in Lebanon. Lebanon's ruling majority and the opposition are locked in a 16-month-old political deadlock that has left the country without a president since November. Arab League mediation has so far failed to break the impasse which has forced the presidential election to be postponed 15 times since September. The United States and its Arab allies back the anti-Syrian majority coalition. Syria and Iran support the opposition, led by the Shi'ite Hezbollah guerrilla group. Washington and Riyadh say Syria is blocking the election of Lebanon's army chief General Michel Suleiman through its local allies. The opposition says it will allow the election only after it gets veto power in the next government. Diplomats and analysts say Saudi Arabia and its allies want Syria to compromise over Lebanon in return for leaders to attend the Arab summit to avoid a fiasco for Damascus. "Damascus... has eagerly anticipated the event as an opportunity to showcase its importance to the region and mark an end to the country's regional political isolation," political consulting firm Eurasia Group said in a report last week. "But as the summit approaches, Syria's opponents are using their attendance, or lack (of), to press Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to use his influence to push for a solution in Lebanon." The diplomats said Washington was pressing its allies to stay away from the summit but events in Iraq and the Palestinian territories were pulling them in the opposite direction. "The Saudis are facing a real dilemma with this summit. The king is reluctant to go because of Lebanon, but there are also the killings in Gaza and Iran's charm offensive in Iraq," a Riyadh-based Western diplomat said, adding that he expected King Abdullah to send a high-level representative. STRATEGIC INTERESTS Syria, which says it will not sacrifice its strategic interests in Lebanon for the summit, has invited all Arab League members except -- so far -- Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, Lebanese political sources said. The Syrians were waiting to see if a president is elected in Lebanon before sending an official to Riyadh and Beirut with invitations. If not, they would send the invitation to Lebanon through diplomatic channels. That would mean inviting anti-Syrian Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to represent Lebanon, a bitter pill that diplomats say the Syrians would have to swallow. But Siniora might not go if many Arab leaders stayed away, a Lebanese official said. "I don't think Lebanon can ignore the matter if several countries boycott the summit because of their positions regarding the compromise in Lebanon and the failure to elect a president," Acting Foreign Minister Tareq Mitri said. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad opposed a suggestion by Arab League chief Amr Moussa to postpone the summit. "The absence of Lebanon and top Arab leaders could undermine the Syrian hosts, although Damascus argues that Arab summits usually convene without all leaders," a Western diplomat said. Syria expects at least 12 of 22 heads of states to attend, including those of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya as well as the Palestinian president. Saudi Arabia's relations with Syria deteriorated after the 2005 assassination of its main Lebanese ally former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Many in Lebanon and the Arab world blamed Syria for the killing. Damascus denies any involvement. The United States piled pressure on Syria and its allies last week by deploying a warship off the Lebanese coast. Saudi Arabia asked its nationals to leave the country. Some Arab analysts, reflecting widespread apathy in the Arab world, said the summit would signify little, whoever attended. "Arab summits at the end of the day ... don't add much," Khaled al-Dakhil, political sociology professor in Saudi Arabia, said. |
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