Arab League to mediate in Lebanon crisis
Source: Reuters
By Nadim Ladki BEIRUT, Dec 11 (Reuters) - A Sudanese envoy on Monday will hold talks with Lebanese leaders on an Arab League proposal to resolve Lebanon's political crisis after a show of force by the pro-Syrian Hezbollah-led opposition. Hundreds of thousands of protesters attended a rally in central Beirut on Sunday to press demands for a major say in government for Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah and its Christian and Muslim allies. Western-backed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and his anti-Syrian allies have refused, saying Hezbollah wanted to place Lebanon under the tutelage of Syria and Iran, but the prime minister again called on Sunday for dialogue to end the crisis. Sudanese presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail will arrive in Beirut overnight and meets leaders of both camps. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa will join him on Tuesday. Both men had separate talks in Beirut last week. Ismail told Arabiya television from Damascus that all parties in Lebanon had agreed to Arab League mediation. He said talks would resume on a package deal to include demands from both sides. He said the proposal covers a unity government, passage of a U.N.-proposed international tribunal to try suspects in last year's killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, early presidential and parliamentary elections. Lebanese political sources said Ismail and Moussa would face a mountain to climb to get all parties not just to agree on the various issues but also on the sequence of implementing them. BIGGEST EVER? "Siniora out," Sunday demonstrators chanted. "Beirut is free," others yelled in what one security force source estimated was the biggest rally in Lebanese history. Holed up in his well-protected office, which is ringed by coils of razor wire, Siniora urged his opponents to end their street demonstrations and resume negotiations. "On this occasion, I call on the protesters to come back to the constitutional institutions to discuss all contested issues and reach real solutions," he said in a statement. Speakers told the throngs that the government was a puppet of the United States, repeating accusations that Siniora's allies had hoped Israel would crush Shi'ite militant Hezbollah in its recent war with Israel. Siniora has accused Hezbollah of trying to stage a coup following its war and commentators have warned the worsening stand-off could degenerate into sectarian violence in a country that is still trying to rebuild after a 1975-90 civil war. Whereas the last civil war started out primarily as a fight between Christian and Muslim militia, the main faultline now lies between Lebanon's Sunni community and the Shi'ites. One Shi'ite protester has been killed and several people hurt in shooting incidents, riots and clashes between supporters of both sides over the past week. Siniora has called a cabinet meeting for Tuesday.
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