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March 11, 2005 |
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THE SONS OF AL-HARIRI THANK THE SECOND DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND EXPRESS THEIR APPRECIATION FOR SAUDI ARABIA'S CONSTANT SUPPORT TO LEBANON. PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL: WHAT IS REQUIRED OF THE LEBANESE IS THAT THEY DO NOT GIVE A CHANCE FOR ANY TROUBLEMAKER TO RETURN TO LEBANON. MPs FROM AL-HARIRI GROUP CALL FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TAIF ACCORD. THE WITHDRAWAL STATEMENT OF THE HIGHER SYRIAN-LEBANESE COUNCIL. ISSAM FARES: THE WITHDRAWAL TO BEQA'A WILL BE IMPLEMENTED BEFORE THE END OF MARCH. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received at his residence in Morocco the sons of late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri Sheikh Bahaeddine, Sheikh Saededdine, Mr. Ayman, Mr. Udai along with Mr. Nizar Dalloul. During the audience, Prince Sultan presented his deepest condolences to the sons of late Prime Minister. The audience was attended by Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Governor of Riyadh Region, and a number of princes. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz paid tribute to the late leader, saying Mr. Hariri had served his country and is a martyr. He hoped that his family will pursue the work "of this great man," and stressed that the perpetrators of the February 14 assassination be revealed. Sheikh Bahaeddine told reporters that he thanked the Saudi official for their support and the condolences that they had extended to the Hariri family, and for Saudi Arabia's constant support of Lebanon "under all circumstances." He reaffirmed the family's commitment to the martyred leader's path and values. Prince Saud Al-Faisal said in a statement that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia welcomed the Syrian plans to withdraw from Lebanon. Prince Saud added after talks between King Abdullah II and Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard that both leaders have welcomed the decision of President Bashar Al Assad to withdraw form Lebanon. The Foreign Minister said the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and King Abdullah II were satisfied with the Syrian decision. Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, added "What is required of the Lebanese is that they not give a chance for any troublemaker to return to Lebanon," he told Al Arabiya satellite television. The Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council welcomed Syria's decision to start troop pullback from Lebanon, calling it a positive step towards implementing the Security Council's resolution No. 1559. In a statement, the Secretariat General of the GCC said the member states of the Riyadh-based organization considered the decision a contribution to developing the fraternal and historical relations between Syria and Lebanon. MP Bahiya Al-Hariri welcomed Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's speech in which he called for finding the identity of those who assassinated her brother, former prime minister Rafiq Hariri. In a statement she issued, Hariri said that it was "in the interest of both Lebanon and Syria" to track down the killers. "Our most important challenge today is to re-iterate Rafik Hariri's national principles, which call for building strategic and balanced relations with Syria and allowing both countries to proceed with the Arab integration path," She said. She called for implementing the 1989 Taif Accord, which brought to an end the Lebanese 15-year civil war. On the issue of the Lebanese anti-Israeli resistance, Hariri said she was bound by what Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said after the assassination. Nasrallah had said that he had excellent relations with the former premier and that Rafik Hariri was a supporter of the resistance. On the issue of the Palestinian resettlement in Lebanon, Bahiya said that Lebanon called for "allowing the Palestinians to return to their homes in historic Palestine." The MP condemned the attacks against Syrians in Saida and said these attacks are part of plot that killed the martyred Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri. MPs from groups lead by the late Prime Minister Al-Hariri held a meeting in which they discussed the developments in Lebanon and called for unveiling the identity of those who killed Hariri. They stressed the call for an international committee to investigate the murder and stressed Hariri's call for not signing an agreement with Israel. More than 150,000 Lebanese rallied in central Beirut to cries of "Syria out," three weeks after ex-premier Rafiq Hariri's murder, as Syria prepared for a troop pullback under international pressure. A sea of red-and-white Lebanese flags filled Martyrs' Square for the opposition rally as Syria's president pledged to complete a long-promised Syrian pullback to the eastern Bekaa Valley by the end of March. Opposition MP Fares Said told AFP "we welcome any pullback, but we want to see, on the ground, a full withdrawal of Syrian soldiers and intelligence services". On Martyrs' Square where Hariri is buried, protestors marched in a massive demonstration to the site of the February 14 explosion which killed him and that was blamed by the opposition on the pro-Syrian regime and Damascus. "Syria out," they chanted to the rhythm of drums as bank employees and businessmen waved and clapped from balconies. "The only army we want in Lebanon is the Lebanese army." They observed a minute of silence to mark the exact time of the attack on Hariri, before breaking out into Lebanon's national anthem. "The Bekaa is in Lebanon," one placard read, in a reference to demands for a complete Syrian pullout. Amid a heavy deployment of armored vehicles mounted with machine-guns around the area, the protestors branded photographs of the public prosecutor and six intelligence chiefs whose dismissal the opposition is demanding over the blast."Truth, freedom, national unity," chanted the crowd. Demonstrations were also held in the streets of Sidon, Hariri's hometown in southern Lebanon, gathering together some 4,000 students. Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Syrian-backed Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah, said a full withdrawal of Syria's troops was unacceptable while Lebanon remained in a "state of war" with Israel. Meanwhile a delegation of Lebanese opposition MPs traveled to Brussels and Paris to seek support for demands for a complete Syrian troop pullout from Lebanon, Lebanese MP Marwan Hamadeh told AFP. The nine-member delegation also called for the formation of a neutral transitional government following the resignation of the pro-Syrian cabinet, he said. The MPs met with Javier Solana, the European Union's top foreign policy representative, in Brussels and will hold talks in Paris with French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier on Friday, he said. Other opposition delegations will travel in the next few days on similar visits to Europe and the Arab world, he said. In talks with Lebanese opposition members Wednesday, Europe's foreign-policy chief pledged the EU's determination to enforce the full and immediate implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 and help Lebanon hold free and transparent elections. In Brussels, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana said: "The EU is determined to make all necessary efforts for that purpose. ... It is also willing to offer the required assistance to hold free and transparent elections, which would be a crucial phase for Lebanon." Solana welcomed the delegation and said the EU has been following developments in Lebanon closely since the "shocking" assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri. The delegation includes Chouf MPs Walid Jumblatt and Marwan Hamade, Metn MP Nassib Lahoud, Zghorta MP Nayla Mouawad, Minyeh MP Ahmed Fatfat, Koura MP Farid Makari; Beirut MPs Ghattas Khoury and Mohammed Qabbani and Tripoli MP Mosbah Ahdab. Solana said the EU supported a free, independent, sovereign and democratic Lebanon, and praised the "unprecedented" peaceful demonstrations held by the opposition in Martyrs' Square. After the meeting with Solana, Jumblatt headed to Moscow for talks on the scaling back of Syria's military presence in Lebanon, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Jumblatt will hold three days of consultations with political figures and Foreign Ministry officials, the Interfax news agency quoted ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko as saying. Interfax also quoted a Moscow-based spokesman for Jumblatt as saying that the opposition leader would meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and one of his deputies, as well as the foreign affairs committee chiefs of both houses of Parliament. The spokesman said: "He (Jumblatt) will certainly raise the issue of the withdrawal of Syrian military units from Lebanon during his meetings in Russia." The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Yakovenko, said: "Forthcoming contacts with Jumblatt are part of Russia's active policy aimed at removing new sources of tensions in the Middle East, lifting all problems in relations between Lebanon and Syria and fulfilling the United Nations resolution." Other members of the delegation will hold talks in Paris with French officials. Separately, the EU will send a committee to examine the mechanism of monitoring the upcoming parliamentary elections in Lebanon, the union's Arab Levant department told a delegation from the Lebanese Democratic Christian Union. The delegation informed EU officials of the opposition's insistence on the full withdrawal of Syrian troops and secret services before the May elections and urged the EU to send observers to monitor the elections. The delegation is composed of Kesrouan MP Neamatallah Abi Nasr, Aley MP Fouad Saad and Minyeh MP Ahmed Fatfat. They are expected to travel to France before returning to Beirut on Thursday. The delegation also met with President of the Belgian Senate Anne-Marie Lizin, other Senate officials, Foreign Ministry officials and officials from the European Research center on cooperation between Europe and Arab and Mediterranean countries. In addition, the delegation met with the Lebanese community in Belgium and urged them to intensify and unify efforts to gain Europe's support for the Lebanese cause. After meeting to discuss the future of Syrian troops in Lebanon, the presidents of the two countries issued the following statement: Syrian troops have been in Lebanon since 1976 In response to an invitation by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Lebanese President Col Emile Lahoud has paid a visit to the Syrian Arab Republic at the head of an official delegation. During the visit, the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council held a meeting under the chairmanship of Presidents Assad and Lahoud, and in the presence of Nasri Khuri, secretary general of the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council. The two sides stressed that this meeting, which comes during these difficult circumstances and in view of the challenges that face the two countries, emphasises the determination of the two states to strengthen the march of co-operation and co-ordination between them and to continue implementing the articles of the treaty and the agreements signed within its framework accurately, with transparency, and in a manner that achieves the joint interests of the two countries. The two sides pointed out their true determination to rectify any failure affecting this march within the framework of the joint establishments and services, which were established in accordance with this treaty, and which remains the sole legitimate and acceptable framework for handling difficulties and obstacles, and proposing visions on the future prospects for these relations, which should be translated on the ground through steps, projects, and conduct that reflect the historic, popular, social, economic, cultural, and political dimensions of these brotherly relations. The two sides asserted that both countries are committed to the Taif Accord and its mechanisms, and the Brotherhood, Co-operation, and Co-ordination Treaty, and the agreements emanating from it. They also renewed their adherence to the joint strategic constants in confronting the current and future challenges, and to endeavour to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the relative UN resolutions, the Madrid terms of reference, the principle of land for peace, and their respect for all the international legitimacy resolutions, including Resolution 1559. They stressed the importance of implementing these resolutions away from selectivity and double standards. After that, the conferees moved to discussing the time schedule proposed by secretary general of the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council in view of the report that he presented. In light of the discussions, the following has been decided: 1. Based on Taif Accord and Article 4 of the Brotherhood, Co-operation, and Co-ordination Treaty signed between the two countries on 22 May 1992 and on the UN charter and out of respect for the resolutions of international legitimacy, the council has decided the following: A. Withdrawing the Syrian Arab forces stationed in Lebanon to the Bekaa region and the western entrance to Bekaa at Zahr al-Baydar and to the Hamana-Mdayriz-Ayn Dara line by the end of March 2005. B. Tasking the joint military committee with drawing up an agreement within one month at most after the withdrawal of the Syrian forces to Bekaa region in accordance with provision A. The agreement will fix the size and the duration of the presence of the Syrian forces in the above-mentioned areas, as well as the relations of these forces in their areas with the Lebanese State's authorities. C. When the agreed-upon duration of the presence of the Syrian forces under provision B expires, the two Syrian and Lebanese governments will agree upon the withdrawal of the remaining Syrian Arab forces. 2. Based on the provisions of Article Six of the Brotherhood, Co-operation, and Co-ordination Treaty, the council has decided the following: A. Inviting the Follow-up and Co-ordination Commission to meet as soon as possible under the co-chairmanship of the two countries' prime ministers to follow up the work of all the joint ministerial committees and to acquaint itself with what has been implemented during the previous stage and to approve it. The commission will also hold a meeting every six months. B. Inviting the Defence and Security Affairs Committee to meet as soon as possible to reform the two defence and security committees, the two military and security follow-up committees, and the joint technical committees stipulated in the Defence and Security Agreement and to draw up an executive programme for the said agreement. The committees will also hold a meeting every three months. C. Inviting the Foreign Affairs Committee to meet as soon as possible to set up a joint follow-up committee and to draw up a joint action programme in the face of the current challenges. The committee will hold a meeting every two months. D. Inviting all the other joint ministerial committees, foremost of which is the Economic and Social Committee, to follow up its periodic meetings and tasking it if necessary to accelerate the implementation of the signed agreements and decisions on carrying out a series of joint projects. 3. Requesting the joint commission to draw up an executive programme for a joint agreement on labour and referring it to the Higher Council within three months for approval. 4. Requesting the joint Financial Committee to submit its study to the Higher Council regarding the possibility of establishing a unified customs wall within three months for approval. 5. Requesting the economic committee to submit its initial concept of the means and mechanisms of achieving an economic integration within three months for discussion. The joint Syrian-Lebanese Military Committee met on Tuesday in Damascus in the framework of the Taif Accord and the two countries' Treaty and Cooperation, Fraternity and Coordination. The meting was attended from the Lebanese side by Commander of the Lebanese army Lieut. General Michael Suleiman and several senior army officers, and from the Syrian side by Lieut. Gen. Ali Habib Chief of the Staff and several senior army officers in the presence of Secretary General of the Supreme Syrian-Lebanese Council Nassri Khouri. The two sides exchanged points of view on several issues of common interest for the two armies regarding the withdrawal of the Syrian troops from their present positions to the Bekaa region. They also discussed the mechanism incorporated in the Accord in line with the plan put by the two leaderships according to item ( A) of the Taif Accord and the Treaty. Both sides agreed that the implementation would begin as soon as possible to withdraw the Syrian forces to the Bekaa region and the entrance of the western Bekaa in Dahr al-Beidar until Hamman-Mdeirij-Ein Dara line with item ( B) of the Accord. The two sides also agreed to set up a joint technical committee to reach a draft agreement to be sent to the joint Military Committee to be discussed and adopted within a month of submitting it. Both sides shall name its representatives to the technical committee within a week from now. Later, Syrian Defense Minister Lieut. Gen. Hassan Turkmani met the Syrian-Lebanese Military Committee where the two sides stressed importance of continued coordination and cooperation between the two brotherly armies to maintain the security of both countries and confront foreign pressures on the basis of the two countries firm relations and legitimate struggle to restore their rights and establish the just and comprehensive peace in line with the international legitimacy resolutions. Meanwhile Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares said in an interview with CNN that the Syrian troops will withdraw by the end of March and could be before the 23rd of March. Following is the interview: We join now the Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares from Beirut who attended Monday's meeting in Damascus that resulted in the troops withdrawal plan. Many thanks for joining us. Doesn't the decision by Hezbollah to launch Pro Syrian demonstrations in Beirut increase the factional and increase risk of mayhem? - What happened yesterday is that during the meeting of the Higher Lebanese Syrian council we concentrated all our discussions on one item: UN Resolution 1559 related to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. The remaining items on that resolution really concerns Lebanon only. There are three items: Hezbollah, Palestinian armed presence and the Lebanese Army in the South. This is why the demonstration is taking place today. We as government respect UN Resolutions and recognize the importance of implementing these resolutions. They (demonstrators) want to show their rejection to these items in the resolution. Did Syria also undertake to withdraw undercover agents, the intelligent officers. What we also hear is the infiltration of the entire Lebanese security apparatus by these agents. - They all go together. The presence of these security people is to safeguard the presence of those troops. And it was discussed that they will all leave together. The decision taken yesterday was the complete withdrawal to the Bekaa Valley by the end of March and it could be before the Arab Summit on the 23rd of March. You see complete withdrawal is one thing but having a neighbor with Tens of thousand of troops on the border on the other side of the Bekaa Valley that is almost just as bad isn't it? - it is not like that. It is a strategic matter really where they have to relocate first and assemble in the Bekaa Valley for final withdrawal to their borders and beyond. Every country has the right to defend its borders. Can you be confident that Lebanon will not descend into factional violence in fighting again? - I hope not. What happened in the past was disastrous for all of us. All Lebanese are now committed to peaceful solutions. I hope we would never see those bad days again. On the other hand Secretary General of Hizbollah Party Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said "No one can drive Syria out of Lebanon. President Assad is present in Lebanon if not physically then in Lebanon's spirit and mind". In a speech delivered at the mass rally in Beirut Tuesday, Nasrallah underlined support to the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council's outcomes, asserting that Syrian presence or withdrawal from Lebanon should only be ruled by al-Taif Accord. "We are here to tell the world that we reject the UN resolution No. 1559", he said, asserting that al-Taif Accord should rule the Syrian military existence and the two governments' will and interests rather than the international pressure and diktats. Nasrallah pointed out to the necessity of forming a responsible government to rule the state and its political, security, economic and financial requirements " a government to follow up seriously the issue of al-Hariri Assassination". He also called all sides for dialogue, asserting importance of implementation of other items of al-Taif Accord. " Syria will support all Lebanese agreed upon decisions since Syria has always wanted good for Lebanon", he added. Nasrallah rejected settling the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, asserting that settling them serves Israel only. He urged France, which co-sponsored the 1559 resolution with the United States, to drop its support for this measure. He also called upon the U.S. to reconsider its stance towards Lebanon and not to intervene in its internal affairs, stressing importance of taking into consideration the Lebanese people's unanimous rejection of foreign intervention in their internal issues. Nasrallah concluded by thanking Syria and the Syrian army who resisted the enemy and sacrificed themselves for Lebanon's liberty and security. President Emile Lahoud said that Lebanese people's expression of loyalty to Syria, for her sacrifices and support, was a clear indication that most of them are committed to boost brotherly relations with Syria. "Lebanese people rallying under their national flag constitutes a motive to enhance national unity which remains the shield that protects Lebanon, particularly during this critical situation," Lahoud added in a statement released by Lebanese Presidency. "There is a big opportunity for Lebanese people to form a new government that will come in response to what we aspire for a national government that includes all parties," President Lahoud said. On the other hand U.S. Department of State Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Satterfield said: We see UNSCR 1559 as completely consistent with both the letter and the spirit of the Taif Accord, concluded 15 years ago. It is time for that Accord--in its full measure--to be applied. It is time for the Taif Accord--in all of its aspects--to be fully implemented here in Lebanon. That would serve not only the interests of the Lebanese people, but also the interests of Syria as well. We want to see in Lebanon the establishment of a political climate of freedom: freedom of expression, freedom of political views, and freedom of decision. The time has come for the Lebanese people to be able to face their own national decisions-decisions, which Lebanon must be able to take in an atmosphere free from threats and intimidation. We want to see free and fair elections take place this spring. It is important that steps take place on the ground prior to those elections, including implementation of UNSCR 1559, which establishes a climate to allow the Lebanese people to breathe, and gives them confidence that the decisions taken during the elections genuinely reflect their views. This is important for Lebanon, first and foremost, but it is important for the international community as well. It does not threaten the interest of any country to see Lebanon free, sovereign, and independent. That |
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