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Lebanese opposition contacts Israel about Syrian withdrawal
By Yoav Stern and Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondents,...
Lebanese opposition members have asked Israel to encourage the United States to pressure Syria into withdrawing its troops from Lebanon.
Lebanese figures contacted Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz's advisor, Uri Lubrani, among other officials in Jerusalem, and indicated they were determined to keep struggling against the Syrian presence in Lebanon but need American support.
The Lebanese opposition members believe the U.S. has a great deal of influence over Damascus, even without the use of military force.
Senior officials at the Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office were in touch with Lebanese leaders even before the current crisis.
The events of the last few days, which culminated in a demonstration that led to the fall of the Lebanese government, have been dubbed "The Spring of Beirut."
The Lebanese opposition figures indicated to officials in Jerusalem that they have no claims from Israel whatsoever. They also said they don't understand Hezbollah's insistence to perpetuate conflict over the Shaba Farms. This small area near the Lebanon-Israel border remained in Israeli hand after its withdrawal from the southern Lebanon security zone in 2000.
The Hezbollah has been running a military and propaganda campaign to get Israel to withdraw from Shaba Farms.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Thursday during a meeting with the British Minister of State for the Middle East Baroness Elizabeth Symons: "We must put our forces together and support the [Lebanese] opposition, and this is [the British government's] responsibility.
"The international community must deliver an unequivocal message to Syria - to pull out its military forces from Lebanon now," Shalom said.
U.S., France lead calls for Syrian withdrawal
Washington and Paris have led calls for Syria to withdraw its 14,000 troops from Lebanon in line with United Nations Security Council resolution 1559, passed last September.
On Wednesday night, U.S. President George W. Bush repeated the demand for Syria to take its troops out of Lebanon.
A similar announcement came from Paris. "We will be watching extremely closely to see that this intention is put into action," French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said.
Speaking in Maryland on Wednesday, Bush praised the cooperation between France and the United States in pressuring Syria to withdraw. Bush referred to a joint announcement published by Barnier and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Saudi Arabia: Talks with Syria 'fruitful'
Talks between Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad about his country's withdrawal from Lebanon were "fruitful" and their results will appear soon, Saudi's foreign minister said.
Abdullah told Assad on Thursday to meet international demands to start withdrawing troops from Lebanon immediately, Saudi officials said.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told the pan-Arab al-Hayat newspaper in remarks printed on Friday the talks were "fruitful" and "their positive results will emerge soon."
One Saudi official said after Abdullah's talks with Assad in Riyadh that Syria must start withdrawing soon, otherwise Saudi-Syrian relations would go through difficulties.
Egypt also seeking withdrawal
Egypt is also seeking to ease a crisis over international pressure on Syria to withdraw from Lebanon, Egypt's presidential spokesman said on Thursday.
Suleiman Awad said Egypt, as well as Saudi Arabia, were "keen to find a way out in order to contain the current crisis."
Awad told Reuters that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and al-Faisal had discussed Syria in a meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Thursday, but that it was too soon to talk about a summit involving Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria to seek a resolution to the crisis.
Awad said Egypt was seeking a way to marry the Taif Accord, which calls for a redeployment and later withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon, with the UN resolution. Syria has said the Taif Accord ending Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war would indirectly meet demands set out in UN Security Council resolution 1559. Damascus says the UN resolution does not find a consensus among Lebanese, while the Taif Accord does.
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