Ain-Al-Yaqeen - February 25, 2005

		February 25, 2005

THE SAUDI LEADERSHIP AND LARGE NUMBERS OF CITIZENS OFFER THEIR CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILY OF RAFIQ AL-HARIRI.
PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL IN LONDON: WE CALL FOR A QUICK AND TRANSPARENT INVESTIGATION INTO THE KILLING OF AL-HARIRI.
THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE ARAB LEAGUE ANNOUNCES AFTER HIS MEETING WITH PRESIDENT AL-ASSAD THAT SYRIA'S WITHDRAWAL FROM LEBANON IS PART OF THE SYRIAN POLICY.
THE LEBANESE OPPOSITION SUCCEEDS IN CANCELLING PLANS TO DEBATE THE NEW ELECTORAL LAW UNTIL A NATIONALLY TELEVISED SESSION OF PARLIAMENT IS HELD TO DEBATE THE ASSASSINATION OF FORMER PREMIER AL-HARIRI.
BAHIA AL-HARIRI: OUR CEILING IS THE TAIF ACCORD. PRESIDENT LAHOUD: ISRAEL IS THE FIRST BENEFICIARY OF AL-HARIRI'S ASSASSINATION.

Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz led thousands of people, including top officials, Saudis and Lebanese, to offer condolences to the family of martyred former Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri, who was killed in a car bombing in Beirut last Monday.

"It is an unethical crime. God willing, its perpetrator will be exposed," the Crown Prince told reporter, after meeting the family of the late leader. He said, "Lebanon, which is a brotherly country dear to us ... will survive whatever happens."

The martyred leader's wife Mrs. Nazik Hariri, sons Bahaeddin, Saad, Ayman and Fahd, and daughter Hind received the condolences at the late Mr. Hariri's home in Riyadh's Worood district. Also present were Mr. Hariri's sister, Deputy Bahia Hariri, and his brother Mr. Shafik Hariri.

Interior Minister Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, condemned the assassination, after paying his condolences to the family.

He said Mr. Hariri was martyred in Lebanon's service, and praised the massive and popular outpour of grief that followed the late leader's death, pointing out it was unprecedented in Lebanon.

Prince Naif urged unity among the Lebanese to avoid any conflicts, and hoped that the perpetrators of the car bombing that killed the late Premier and his companions will be found and punished. He stressed it is the responsibility of the Lebanese authorities to lead a professional investigation, and made clear that no crime should go unresolved, highlighting the significant legacy of the late Prime Minister.

A large number of dignitaries had also visited the late leader's home in Riyadh's Worood district, including Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Governor of Riyadh and his sons, state governors, princes, and Arab and Western diplomats.

Among the dignitaries who paid their condolences to the late Prime Minister's family were: Prince Sultan Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, President of the youths support affairs, Deputy Chairman of Riyadh's Chamber of Commerce Mr. Abdul Aziz Mohammad al-Azal, Secretary General of the Higher Tourism Authority Prince Sultan Ibn Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz,, Prince Abdullah Ibn Mesaad Ibn Abdul Aziz, Prince Fahd Ibn Mohammad Ibn Abdul Aziz, Prince Mohammad Abdallah Al-Faisal Ibn Abdul Aziz, and the head of the Saudi Royal Court Sheikh Mohammad Al-Nuwaisar.

Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdel Rahman Al Attiyah also condemned the car bombing, after paying his condolences to the Hariri family. He said Mr. Hariri's assassination was a big loss for Lebanon, the Arab world, and the Islamic nation. The GCC leader told reporters that the martyred Prime Minister was committed to shoring up Lebanon's cooperation with the GCC, citing the free trade agreement that was signed during Mr. Hariri's tenure in office.

While in Riyadh, Mrs. Nazik Hariri received a cable of condolences from the Executive Director of the UN Human Settlement Program Ana Tabajuka who had awarded the martyred leader a top prize in Barcelona last September for the reconstruction of Beirut. Mrs. Hariri also received a cable of condolences from the Spanish Foreign Ministry.

Thousands of Lebanese and Saudi people and other various nationalities thronged the Hariri residence after Maghrib prayers to expressed their condolences to Saaduddin Hariri and Bahauddin Hariri.

On the other hand Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stressed the importance of the quick capture of Hariri's assassins to avoid unpleasant consequences.

Prince Saud emphasized the importance of speedy and transparent investigations into the killing of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri. "This is essential to find and punish the culprits to avoid unpleasant consequences," the Foreign Minister said.

Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal has said that countries should not hastily accuse Syria of involvement in the killing of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri.

He also dismissed calls for an immediate international probe into the assassination, saying Beirut should be allowed to hold its own investigation.

"We cannot accuse one side before we know the facts," he told Arab journalists in London. "Those who accuse Syria without evidence will be open to criticism."

Prince Saud confirmed his participation in the March the first conference to be held in London. He said that Islam has set up the rules of Justice and good governance before democracy was theorized.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal expressed concern about terrorism which comes from a neighbouring country such as Iraq. He urged the Iraqi government to provide information about Saudis who took part in terrorist acts, either by giving their names the DNA of those who died, or confirm that Saudis do not take part in violent attacks.

The prince stressed that reforms are being implemented in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and contrary to what is being said the government is pushing the process forward.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who is currently visiting London, hailed Saudi-British relations.

His remarks came during a meeting at the Saudi embassy in London with Arab media representatives in London.

Prince Saud expressed hopes that Saudi-British relations will witness more progress in all fields. The meeting was attended by Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the Saudi Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, arrived in London at the head of a high-ranking Saudi delegation to the United Kingdom.

The Foreign Minister is scheduled to confer with a number of British officials, and led the Saudi side at the conference of 'The Two Kingdoms and the Future Challenges', organized at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in cooperation with the Saudi embassy in London.

The conference's inaugural session was addressed by Prince Saud Al-Faisal and his British counterpart Jack Straw.

The conference's sessions will be addressed by Saudi ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland Prince Turki Al-Faisal; Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr Hashim Yamani, and other senior officials.

The participants of the conference will review Saudi-British relations, and the British role at the international arena and other related topics.

Prince Saud also held talks with members of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the House of Commons.

He will also visit the Center of the Islamic Studies in Oxford. In oxford, Prince Saud will deliver a lecture on "Dialogue and Understanding."

Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, arrived in Britain on a several-day visit to the United Kingdom.

At Heathrow Airport, Prince Saud was received by Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the Saudi Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland Republic and a number of the British officials.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi held talks with Donald Anderson, Chairman of the External Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, and members of the committee.

The meeting was attended by the Saudi Ambassador to United Kingdom and Ireland Prince Turki Al-Faisal and Prince Saud's accompanying delegation.

During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries and ways of enhancing them. The two countries' position towards the developments in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, the situations in Iraq and Lebanon and the local and regional incidents were also discussed.

Later, Prince Saud Al-Faisal accompanying delegation paid a visit to the House of Lords and met with its speaker.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Hashim Abdullah Yamani, Minister of Commerce and Industry; Prince Abdullah Ibn Faisal Ibn Turki; Prince Bandar Ibn Khalid Al-Faisal; and Dr. Ihsan Abu-Haleeqa, Member of the Shoura Council.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal, graced a dinner party held in his honor by Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords and Secretary of State for Britain's External Affairs Baroness Simons.

The function was attended by the Saudi Ambassador to United Kingdom and Ireland Prince Turki Al-Faisal, princes, ministers and Prince Saud Al-Faisal's accompanying delegation and a number of senior British government officials, businessmen, media representatives and British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles.

On the other hand and following his meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States Amr Moussa confirmed that the Syrian leadership "will soon take unspecified measures for withdrawing its troops from neighboring Lebanon."

"President Assad has confirmed several times during our meeting his firm intentions to move ahead in implementing the Taif pact and withdraw Syrian forces from Lebanon according to that agreement," said Moussa, adding that President Bashar also confirmed that the Taif agreement and the withdrawal of his troops from Lebanon had always been part of the Syrian policy.

Amr Moussa also confirmed that President Bashar had welcomed the UN to play a role in the probe into the assassination of Hariri along with some 16 others in Beirut on Feb. 14. "President Assad has welcomed the participation of a UN team in the probe, a step that will be in the interest of all," Moussa said, quoting Bashar as saying that he would urge the investigation to be carried out in the fastest and most effective manner since a "swift investigation would help end hearsay and assure the Lebanese people and all of us about the legal process and that matters are proceeding on the right track."

The 1989 Taif agreement signed between various warring Lebanese parties and factions ending 15 years of civil war in their country stresses that Syria had to shift its troops from Beirut and other parts of Lebanon to the eastern Bekaa Valley, and the two countries should agree on a schedule for full pullout of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

Syria still has some 14,000 troops in Lebanon, though it has redeployed its forces several times since the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1990.

Moussa, whose visit to Syria was initially scheduled on Feb. 23, pushed his meeting with President Bashar two days forward after the deteriorating situation in the region following former Lebanese Prime Minister Al-Hariri's assassination.

Amr Moussa met President Bashar and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Sharaa as thousands of demonstrators thronged the seafront in Beirut to urge Damascus to recall its troops from Lebanon after the killing of Al-Hariri.

However, the Arab League chief made no comment about the sharp increase in pressure on Damascus to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and to stop meddling in its smaller neighbour as demanded by a UN resolution.

In September, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1559 calling for an end to all foreign interference in Lebanon and for militias to be dismantled.

In Brussels US President George W. Bush sought to win over Europeans critical of the Iraq war to a wider campaign for Middle East democracy, pledging to work for Israeli-Palestinian peace and assailing Syria and Iran.

In a keynote speech in Brussels, home of the European Union and NATO, Bush pledged on the first day of a European tour to work in partnership with a united Europe in implicit contrast to the much-criticized go-it-alone thrust of his first term.

Bush's blunt warnings to Syria to get out of Lebanon and to Iran to end its nuclear ambitions and to both to stop what he called their support for terrorism struck a tough tone that may alarm European publics which strongly opposed the Iraq war.

"The free world shares a common goal. For the sake of peace, the Iranian regime must end its support for terrorism and must not develop nuclear weapons," he said at the Concert Noble, an opulent gala venue.

Responding to the Europeans' most pressing priority, Bush pledged to work for Israeli-Palestinian peace, a cause many allies felt he neglected in his first term.

"Our greatest opportunity and immediate goal is peace in the Middle East. After many false starts and dashed hopes and stolen lives, a settlement of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is now within reach," he said.

The creation of a democratic Palestinian state could add to the momentum of reform throughout the broader Middle East, he said, calling for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to seize the moment at a March 1 London conference on Palestinian reform.

He also urged Israel to stop building Jewish settlements and ensure a Palestinian state was viable with contiguous territory in the West Bank and not scattered pockets of land.

Just days before meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bush said "Russia's future lies within the family of Europe and the trans-Atlantic community," he said. "Yet for Russia to make progress as a European nation, the Russian government must renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of law.

"And the United States and all European countries should place democratic reform at the heart of their dialogue with Russia," added Bush.

"We recognize that reform will not happen overnight. We must always remind Russia, however, that our alliance stands for a free press, a vital opposition, the sharing of power, and the rule of law," said the US president.

"America supports a strong Europe, because we need a strong partner in the hard work of advancing freedom and peace in the world," said Bush, who sought to downplay the deep transatlantic divisions over the war in Iraq.

"Our strong friendship is essential to peace and prosperity across the globe, and no temporary debate, no passing disagreement of governments, no power on Earth will ever divide us," he said.

"Now is the time for established democracies to give tangible political, economic and security assistance to the world's newest democracy," he said.

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, whose country was among the critics of the US war against Iraq, introduced Bush and called for an end to the frequently nasty debate over the March 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

"The time has come to draw a line under the tensions of the recent past. It makes little sense to continue arguing about who was right and who was wrong."

Bush responded: "As past debates fade, and great duties become clear, let us begin a new era of transatlantic unity."

Those who had fought to "liberate" Iraq and those who had not should unite now to "give tangible political, economic and security assistance to the world's newest democracy," he said.

In Beirut both Nazek Al-Hariri wife of the late Premier Rafiq Al-Hariri and Bahia Al-Hariri, MP his sister called for a clear, transparent and international investigation into the killing of the the former Premier. Bahia Al-Hariri said that our ceiling is the Taif accord and we will never deviate from it.

Tens of thousands marched in the biggest anti-Syrian protest in Lebanese history. The protest marked one week since the Feb. 14 death of Rafiq Al-Hariri and began at the bomb-scarred site of the former prime minister's assassination, which turned many Lebanese against Syria and increased international pressure on Damascus to extract its army from Lebanon.

Holding aloft red roses and Lebanese flags, the throngs on the streets shouted insults at Syria and demanded the resignation of the Lebanese government in a march that began at the seaside site where Hariri and 16 others were killed and ended at his grave in the city center.

As the demonstration was under way in Beirut, President Bush issued a strong warning to Syria from Brussels, saying Damascus "must end its occupation of Lebanon."

Demonstrators in Beirut beat drums and held up portraits of leaders assassinated during the 1975-90 civil war as they sang patriotic songs.

Marching past policemen and army troops in full battle gear, some carried banners reading, "Independence," and chanted, "The government of puppets must fall" and "Enough blood, leave us alone."

In a show of Muslim-Christian national unity, some protesters held a copy of the Quran in one hand and a cross in another.

The crowd was estimated in the tens of thousands. The protesters observed a moment of silence at 12:55 p.m., the exact time that Hariri's motorcade was blown up.

The Lebanese opposition blames Syria and its allied government in Beirut for the assassination and tens of thousands of protesters converged in Beirut to condemn Damascus and demand a withdrawal of its army.

Meanwhile the Speaker Berri has bowed to opposition demands and said a nationally televised session of parliament will be held to debate ex-Premier Hariri's assassination, saying a Qoranic sendoff would be awarded to Premier Omar Karami's cabinet if parliament votes it out.

Karami announced his decision at a news conference held in parliament last Monday as tens of thousands of outraged Lebanese marked the lapse of one week on Hariri's murder.

"Yes, indeed, I have obeyed the opposition in this regard and cancelled plans to debate in the new electoral law before a plenary session of parliament, which will be nationally televised," Berri said.

Whether a vote of confidence would be requested in the coming session, Berri said "of course." If parliament gives it a confidence vote that will mean parliament has given it a new blood to stay on. If the vote was 'no,' we will read the Fatiha for the falling government."

From his side President Emile Lahoud said "Israel was the first to benefit" from the assassination of Hariri, best known as the man who negotiated the 1989 accord and rebuilt Lebanon while serving as prime minister during 10 of the 14 years after the conflict.

In a meeting with the Iranian Vice-President for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Majid Ansari, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said that the nation and government of Iran has always been on the side of Lebanon especially through hard times.

"We welcome any help in uncovering the cause of the terrorist attack in which Hariri was killed and identifying those responsible for it. But we do not allow others violate Lebanon's sovereignty and interfere in our internal affairs," he stressed.

Iranian Vice President for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Majid Ansari underlined the need for keeping unity and solidarity in Lebanon given the critical conditions.

Ansari made the remark in his meeting with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and submitted to him a message from President Mohammad Khatami condemning the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri.

President Lahoud has also met with Justice Minister Adnan Addoum who briefed the president on underway investigations into the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri and on recent findings by the Judiciary.

Addoum said investigations would remain confidential until full investigations are conducted, adding that new findings required interpretation by Swiss experts, who are expected in Beirut at any time.