BEIRUT, Dec 23: Arab League chief Amr Mussa pleaded for dialogue among Lebanese leaders on Saturday as he wrapped up a new round of shuttle diplomacy between the government and the opposition.
Mr Mussa declined to call his latest mediation mission a failure before leaving for a holiday break but said that pro and anti-Syrian figures within the power-sharing regime in Beirut needed to start talking to each other.
“Contacts between Lebanese leaders do not exist,” the League chief told a Beirut press conference.
“I appeal strongly to Lebanese leaders to establish the necessary contacts between them.
“We presented Lebanese leaders with proposals aimed at resolving the issues in dispute and it is down to them to accept them. Some proposals were accepted, others met with prevarication.
“We had hoped that these proposals would achieve a breakthrough but contacts between the various leaders do not exist, making an understanding very difficult.”
The Lebanese government has been virtually paralysed by the standoff between pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, and the anti-Syrian government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.
Hundreds of opposition supporters have been camping out near Siniora’s offices since Dec 1, demanding that the rump cabinet left by the departure of six pro-Syrian ministers last month make way for a national unity government.
The head of Lebanon’s largest Christian community, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir said in a Christmas message: “The anarchy gripping state institutions is without precedent.
“We have a president who acts alone on the basis that the government is illegitimate and we have a cabinet that claims in turn that the president has no legitimacy.
“It’s a mess unprecedented in Lebanese history.” The Siniora government challenges the legitmacy of Lahoud whose mandate was extended until next year by a controversial Syrian-inspired constitutional amendment in 2004.
The president and parliament speaker counter that the power-sharing arrangements in force since the 1975-90 civil war require the cabinet to make way for a government of national unity.
Mr Mussa said he would be keeping in touch with Lebanese leaders during his holiday break but set no date for his return.
He appealed for the two sides to avoid any escalation of the standoff in the meantime.
“I will remain in touch with all sides and we will see what we can do after the holidays,” he said.
“We are still hoping to make progress towards a resolution of the crisis.
“Lebanon is going through a dangerous period and the aim of the Arab initiative is not to exacerbate it.
“Any escalation will be dangerous for Lebanon. It will not lead to any political outcome but merely spark a reaction.” Christian former minister Suleiman Franjieh had warned on Friday that the opposition was considering launching a full-scale campaign of civil disobedience, including blockades of Beirut international airport and port and major highways, in a bid to force the cabinet's resignation.
Mr Mussa returned to Beirut on Thursday night after talks in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.He said he was very satisfied with Syria’s support for his mediation efforts, but Beirut newspapers on Friday said Mussa’s visit to Damascus had not led to any breakthrough.—AFP
