Riyadh, 24 April (AKI) - Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Saud al-Faisal has warned that civil war could erupt in Lebanon when pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term expires in September-October, and has urged Syria to help its volatile Lebanese neighbour achieve stability which, he argued in a interview published in an Italian newspaper Tuesday, is vital for peace throughout the region. | Uh huh. And who better to impose "stability" than Syria |
"Syria's task is to help Lebanon, which has a special role in the Middle East, because different religious groups live together successfully. That's maybe why Israel has for years attacked it, because it (Israel) rejects the concept of a multi-religious state," the Saudi foreign minister told the Turin-based daily La Stampa. | "Why just look at Saudi Arabia. We have many happy religious groups living together." |
The current poltical crisis in Lebanon revolves around moves by Lahoud and pro-Syrian opposition parties to force the pro-Western and anti-Syrian government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to resign and make way for a government of national unity. The pro-Syrian parties are also opposing the creation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. | Guess the Saudis have gotten over his unfortunate demise |
Saud al-Faisal, replying to questions on another major regional issue, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, said Saudi Arabia would be prepared to dispatch a "delegation" to the Jewish states provided certain conditions where met. "If the exploratory mission undertaken by Egypt and Jordan obtains results on the issue of ending Jewish settlements [in the West Bank], the construction of the [Israeli] wall [that separates Jewish and Arab areas] and the economic boycott of the Palestinians, we might consider sending a delegation. But it is too early to speak of diplomatic relations," Saud al-Faisal was quoted as saying. |