November 11, 2005

CROWN PRINCE SULTAN IBN ABDUL AZIZ VISITS EGYPT FOR TALKS WITH PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK ON THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE REGION. BAHIYA AL HARIRI ANNOUNCES THE FOUNDATION OF THE NATIONAL GATHERING ON THE TAIF ACCORD AND PRAISES THE SAUDI SUPPORT TO LEBANON. AL HARIRI: WE ARE FOR THE FULFILMENT OF JUSTICE AND WE REFUSE TO LET THE BLOOD OF RAFIQ HARIRI BE USED TO MEET FOREIGN INTERESTS. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General will pay an official visit to Egypt next week for talks with President Hosni Mubarak on the latest developments on the Arab and regional scenes, the Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. The visit by the Crown Prince, his first since he assumed the post last August, is scheduled to start on November 15 and will last for several days. The Egyptian-Saudi talks will focus on the situations in Iraq and Palestine, along with the Syrian-Lebanese file in the light of the Mehlis report and the latest UN Security Council resolution in this regard, MENA said. The meeting, which will follow President Mubarak's talks with UN chief Kofi Annan in Cairo tomorrow and Annan's talks in Riyadh later on, is part of Egyptian-Saudi efforts to help Syria avert the negative impacts of the UN resolution. Asked about his anticipated visit to Cairo and reports about an Arab plan led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt to resolve some of the Arab problems, among them the Syrian one with the international commission investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri, Prince Sultan said: "I read in some non-Saudi newspapers, and which the Saudi newspapers cited, that my visit has a consultative aim with some countries, among them Egypt. This is not true. My visit is in response to a previous invitation from my brother Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and is a cordial one to discuss specifically the military cooperation between the two countries, including the holding of joint naval and air exercises. Such exercises were held (in the past) but which I did not have the chance to see. I will therefore visit Egypt soon to meet the Egyptian president and my military colleagues there and underline the Saudi-Egyptian cooperation and friendship only. On the other hand official Lebanese sources disclosed that recent developments in international investigation into the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, that Mehlis officially asked Damascus to interrogate 6 senior security officials. The six include Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat, as well as Syrian military intelligence General Bahjat Suleiman; the former head of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon Rustom Ghazaleh and his deputy Jamaa Jamaa; head of Palestinian affairs General Abed al-Karim Abbas; and Telecommunications and Internet specialist Major Zafer Youssef. For its part, the Syrian foreign ministry received a request from Mehlis to interrogate several Syrian officials but their identities were not disclosed, noting that the Syrian government is studying the Mehlis report, giving no more details. Syria's Foreign Minister Farouq Al-Sharaa said his country was "keen to cooperate with the UN probe," urging the UN investigators "to be professional if we are ever to reach the truth," behind the assassination of Hariri. Syria was criticized in the report prepared by the international probe for not cooperating with UN investigators, a charge Syria has repeatedly denied. The request did not reveal whether the six officials would be questioned as suspects or as witnesses. On the other hand French President Jacques Chirac urged the UN Security Council to consider the conclusions of the report by UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen regarding the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559. Chirac said taking note of the conclusions would be a way for the Security Council to show support for the efforts of the Lebanese government, Elysee spokesman Jerome Bonnafont said after a meeting between Chirac and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at the Elysee. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan met with French President Jacques Chirac in Paris, where he arrived at the start of two-week trip that also took him to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Pakistan. Mr. Annan and Mr. Chirac had a wide ranging discussion covering Syria and Lebanon, Côte d'Ivoire, Iraq, UN reform and development issues, according to a UN spokesperson. Immediately following his meeting with the President, the Secretary-General took off for Cairo. Meantime French President Jacques Chirac warned that Syria would face international sanctions if it refused to cooperate in Hariri probe. "If Syrian President Bashar al-Assad really continues to refuse to listen, or understand, then it will become necessary to move to another level, which is that of sanctions," Chirac told a press conference. It is the first time that the French president expressed so clearly his support for a possible sanction against Damascus if Syria refuses to cooperate with the United Nations. Meantime UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said that he expects Syria to cooperate with the ongoing international probe into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri. The United Nations Security Council members have sent a message to Syria in one voice by unanimously adopting Resolution 1636, Annan told reporters. "I expect and urge Syria to cooperate," said the UN chief. The international investigation was aimed at finding out the truth of Hariri's death and bring those who were behind it to justice, he added. The UN Security Council adopted on Oct. 31 Resolution 1636, demanding Syria fully cooperate with the international investigation led by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis or it might face "further actions." Speaking of possible international sanctions against Syria if it fails to comply, Annan said the resolution did not mention any specific measures and he hopes the issue would be settled without imposing sanctions. "Sanctions are a blunt weapon and sometimes it tends to hurt the innocent people," Annan said, adding his expectation is that Syria will cooperate with the international probe so that sanctions will not be imposed. On the other hand The European Union invited Syria's foreign minister rather than President Bashar al-Assad to a meeting of the EuroMed group of countries this month. Dr Farouq al-Shara, the foreign minister of Syria, is being invited in the normal way to the EuroMed meeting," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told reporters in Brussels, after hosting a meeting of EU foreign ministers. When reminded that the usual protocol is to invite heads of state and government to the Euro-Mediterranean group, set to meet in Barcelona from November 27-29, Straw said: "I've given you the answer that I've given." The EU has criticised Syria for failing to fully cooperate with an official investigation into the death of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, and for not doing enough to promote peace in the Middle East and Iraq. "The council deplores the clear indication that Syria has not cooperated fully with the investigating team," the ministers said in the written conclusions of their meeting. Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw indicated the European Union was not inviting Syrian President Bashar Assad to the special Euro-Mediterranean summit later this month to mark the 10th anniversary of closer ties between the two regions. The move was seen as a protest against insufficient Syrian cooperation with the U.N. inquiry into the Feb. 14 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Other EU officials confirmed Assad would not be invited. The summit is to draw leaders from across Europe, North Africa and Middle Eastern countries that border the Mediterranean to mark a decade of building closer cooperation. During that time, the EU has given billions of euros (dollars) in aid to encourage political and economic reforms and regional integration. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said that the EU foreign ministers reiterated demands "that Syria cooperates with the (U.N.) inquiry," into Hariri's death. Syria has to take this demand seriously," Douste-Blazy told reporters, adding the 25-nation bloc "will judge Syria on its actions." EU nations have threatened sanctions against Damascus if it does not cooperate. The EU foreign ministers called on Syria to "cooperate unconditionally" with the U.N. probe, and to "take immediate action to promote regional stability," to work with the government in Lebanon and to end support to Palestinian militant groups based in Syria. A report last month by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, investigating the killing for the United Nations, implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials in Hariri's assassination and accused Syria of not cooperating fully with the investigation. "As to decisions by the (U.N.) Security Council, if by the 15th of December Detlev Mehlis puts forward a report in respect to non-cooperation by Syria then we will have to wait and see," Straw said. Assad has launched a Syrian investigation. Damascus said it was considering a request by U.N. investigators that they be allowed access to six Syrian government officials about the Hariri assassination. MP Bahia Hariri said the deteriorating situation in Syria is rooted in the suffering inflicted on her late brother, former Premier Rafik Hariri, during Syria's occupation of Lebanon. She said regardless of the pressures exerted on Damascus, the repercussions of Hariri's assassination were trivial when compared to the crime itself. "We do not call for revenge but for justice," Hariri said, addressing a delegation of students of prominent American universities. The delegation has met with several prominent Lebanese officials and mainly discussed the international pressures exerted on Syria, in light of UN Security Council Resolution 1636. Asked about the pressures on Syria, Hariri said she wished "the developments would not have gone so far." "Syria is an Arab country and the Syrians are our brothers; but the amount of pain burdened by martyr Rafiq Hariri due to the Syrian regime in Lebanon might have led to the deterioration of the situation," she said. Asked if she believed whether the truth of Hariri's assassination would be uncovered, the MP said: "The unity of the Lebanese people is the main road toward the truth." She said there have been several attempts to thwart national unity, "but the Lebanese were determined never to return to war and to avoid divisions." As for U.S. administration's plans to dismantle the current Syrian regime, Hariri said instability in any Arab country would affect Lebanon. "We feel that reform can be achieved by the people's will and not by force; we seek the establishment of stability and we do not wish to see Damascus lose its stability," she said. "We are for the fulfilment of justice and we refuse to let the blood of Rafiq Hariri be used to meet foreign interests." Asked if the Lebanese will be able to rule themselves one day, she said: "The Lebanese have the challenge to confirm they are able to control their own affairs and to avoid replacing one tutelage with another." She added that they were up to that challenge when they filled the streets on March 14 and called for national unity. "They are determined to hold internal dialogue based on the Taif Accord," she said. Hariri also said that if the United States actually wanted to support the Lebanese people, it would first work for the establishment of a Palestinian state. On Iraq MP Bahiya Al Hariri said the Arab people are not stupid to beleave that the US came to Iraq to free the Iraqi people from Saddam's regime and it has been proved that no weapons of mass destructions were found in Iraq. She called on the US to help establish stability not through force but through legal rights and law. The MP stressed that the killing of Rafiq Al-Hariri has shaken the whole world and not Lebanon only. It has led to the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon after 30 years of occupation. She said Lebanon is facing the challenge of establishing stability. She referred to Lebanon's experience after the invasion of 1996 and the withdrawal of the Israeli forces in the year 2000. The MP said her family is not looking for revenge but wanted to know the truth while at the same time they are looking for the stability of the country. Asked about the Bush administration position towards the Syrian regime Mrs Hariri said any destabilization in the region would harm Lebanon and the Lebanese through national dialogue can overcome the differences as they all have the aim to live in a stable country under the auspices of the Taif agreement. Sidon MP Bahia Hariri called for the full implementation of the Taif Accord, announcing "a year of national dialogue" 16 years to the day after the endorsement of the agreement that ended 15 years of Civil War. The declaration came during a "National Gathering on the Taif" conference held in Majdalyoun. Hariri praised the efforts of her late brother and former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri to see the endorsement of the Taif Accord, the agreement which ended Lebanon's 15-year Civil War. "We are gathered today to stress the need to correct our mistakes and to carry on the march toward the complete implementation of the Taif Accord, which will pave the way for the establishment of a modern country," she said. "We are gathered here to underline the necessity to bear our responsibilities and face the challenges ahead by preserving our unity and identity and promoting our sovereignty," she added. Officially, the year of national dialogue will not begin until November 22, when workshops will be held across the country to discuss the practical implementation of Taif. "National unity and independence cannot be achieved without holding a national dialogue," Hariri said, stressing that the meeting was not aimed at discussing the Taif, but rather "launching a dialogue on the means to implement it." During an interview with Voice of Lebanon, Hariri said: "We are going through a delicate period and the Lebanese people should confirm that they are able to rule themselves and promote accord under the Taif Accord. Asked to comment on calls to create a "new Taif," Hariri said: "We don't need a new Taif; was the accord implemented to claim that we need a new one?" "Let us be convinced by the Taif as our constitution; what is required today is a clear vision and free dialogue," she said. Batroun MP Butros Harb said that abiding by the Taif Accord would ensure Lebanon's "sovereignty, stability and democracy." In a statement, Harb called on the Lebanese to unify ranks and launch a campaign to "save nationalism on the occasion of the passing of 16 years since the endorsement of the accord." "Today we remember the historical achievement that was made by the MPs on November 5, 1989, when they endorsed the Taif Accord," he said. He further warned against repeating the mistakes of the past and urged all Lebanese to take hold of "the historical opportunity" to build a democratic and stable country, in light of the international support being extended to Lebanon. "The Taif Accord represents Lebanon's rescue pad," Harb said, adding that abiding by the accord would lead to stability and democracy in Lebanon. MP Bahiya Hariri sister of the late Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri said her brother was the key to security not only to Lebanon but to the whole region. She considered his assassination as a blow to the whole country. She said the Mehlis report is an historical event and for the first time the UN issues a report for an individual, adding that the meeting also falls on the same day of the Taif agreement which was signed on the 22nd of October 1989. MP Bahiya Al-Hariri stressed the unity of Lebanon and the insistence of the Lebanese people on defending their land she talked about the day her brother Rafiq Al-Hariri led the government towards freedom and solidarity. She stressed on the importance of the Taif accord and holding free elections that will represent all sectors of the society under a unified government. She talked about the importance of building a future in a democracy through free elections and reaffirmed Lebanon commitment to UN and international resolutions, the Arab League, its commitment to comprehensive peace, the right of return of the Palestinian people and the establishment of their state, the enhancement of European and international relations and the defence of the country's freedom. She stressed the importance of unveiling the truth about the killing of the late Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri and his companions. The dreams of Rafiq Al Hariri in building a lively Lebanon, free, sovereign and independent, will be fulfilled," the MP said. "The death of my brother resulted in the unity of all Lebanese ... Attempts to destabilize Lebanon will fail because the Lebanese people who condemned Rafiq Al-Hariri's assassination in fact reject the assassination of Lebanon," Bahiya said. The MP said Mr. Hariri's assassination "targeted the Lebanese people in their security, stability and future. It targeted the Lebanon of Rafiq Al-Hariri, in its role and dimension.. the resolve to achieve growth, prosperity and development gathered steam in Beirut in the last few years to create a model for the Lebanese and regional development partners." She stressed that Lebanon is facing a delicate moment that requires a "great sense of responsibility to face treachery and conspiracy," and preserve the late Premier's achievements and goals. Deputy Hariri said Mr. Hariri's goals should be pursued including the "course towards unity and freedom which was launched by Martyr Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri, on the 14th of February is Lebanon's future path- to defend a modern, safe and just Lebanon, and to reaffirm the capability of the Arab citizen to build his modern state and his determination to be an active part of the developed and advanced world that believes in human freedom and the right to develop and prosper." Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani showed concern for Lebanese-Syrian relations describing them as "historical and fraternal relations." Qabbani was speaking during a sermon for Eid al-Fitr at the Grand Omari Mosque in Downtown Beirut. Qabbani said he opposes subjecting the Syrian people to "collective sanctions" believing they will "drag Syria into a chaos similar to the chaos in Iraq." During his sermon, Qabbani said "Israel is our real enemy, lurking in wait to benefit from our circumstances." Commenting on the Palestinian cause, Qabbani said the Arab nations should focus on the Palestinian struggle as their "fundamental priority requiring all of their efforts to prevent Israel from further attacking the Palestinians." He also warned of "U.S. plots to stir chaos in the region under the guise of promoting democracy, but which only serve U.S. interests." On the other hand A Syrian committee probing the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri announced yesterday that it had conducted interviews with a number of witnesses and started analyzing the flood of mails and e-mails it has received on the case. The newly set up Special Judicial Committee, or SJC, also pledged full cooperation with the UN inquiry into the assassination of Hariri and the Lebanese judicial authorities concerned to find out the truth behind the murder. "The SJC has already interviewed several witnesses who voluntarily showed up at the committee's premises in Mazza District since we actually began our round-the-clock meetings on Nov. 6. We have also started analyzing the various kinds of data sent to us by witnesses either by post or by e-mail," Judge Ghada Murad, public prosecutor and head of the SJC, said at a news conference. Murad said her committee would cooperate fully with the UN inquiry. However, the investigation was based on "the rules of justice and the fact that all suspects are innocent until proven otherwise," she stressed. Foreign Minister Farouk Shara earlier said his country would cooperate fully with the UN investigating team even though Damascus has branded the UN report released on the killing last month as "politically motivated." "Syria is quite keen on cooperating fully with the UN inquiry and creating the necessary and appropriate mechanisms and procedures to achieve this," Shara was quoted by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency as saying. However, neither Shara nor Murad said whether Damascus would comply with a request by the head of the UN investigation team, Detlev Mehlis, earlier this week to interview six Syrian officials in Lebanon, including Maj. Gen. Asef Shawkat, bother-in-law of President Bashar Assad. "The work of the UN inquiry team should be done in a professional way that should seek to find the truth," Shara told a meeting of the National Progressive Front, the highest political body in Syria. Lebanese sources quoted members of the Mehlis team as saying that the Syrian government was officially requested that Shawkat and five other officers, who had been interviewed by the international investigators in Damascus earlier, be made available for questioning in Lebanon. The Syrian Foreign Ministry confirmed receiving such a request and said Damascus was looking into it. Aside from Shawkat, Mehlis wants to interview Lt. Gen. Rustom Ghazali, former Syrian intelligence chief in Lebanon; Maj. Gen. Bahjat Suleiman, former head of the internal security branch at the General Intelligence Department; Lt. Gen. Thafer Youssef; Lt. Gen. Abdul-Karim Abbas; and Jamea Jamea who served in the Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon as a seni