07/01/2011 Only one day after ending his private vacation and returning to the Lebanese capital Beirut, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri headed to New York on Friday where he's expected to meet with Saudi King Abdullah and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the political crisis in Lebanon.
Hariri, who anticipated his new trip by declaring that the deal between Syria and Saudi Arabia over the Lebanese crisis was finalized a long time ago, is expected to discuss the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and its expected indictment with Abdullah and Clinton who are expected to hold another separate meeting during the day.
Hariri's trip to New York comes at the time Lebanese are awaiting the outcome of the Saudi-Syrian efforts to resolve the crisis raised after the national opposition highlighted the political aspect of the so-called international tribunal, telling the whole world that it was nothing but a tool in the hands of Lebanon's enemies to target the country as well as its Resistance.
Despite the fact that Hariri's allies, mainly those who are believed to be the closest to the United States, denied the presence of any Saudi-Syrian initiative in this regard, Hariri admitted on Friday that the mentioned initiative was not only effective as Speaker Nabih Berri stated, but it was even finalized.
Hariri, who was speaking to pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, announced that he was visiting New York to meet with the king for the second time in 10 days in a bid to boost Saudi-Syrian efforts to defuse the crisis. "I am going there to discuss ways of boosting the mediation efforts that are a guarantee to Lebanon's stability," he was quoted as saying.
The Prime Minister revealed that Saudi-Syrian mediation had led to an agreement a few months ago but accused the opposition of not living up to its end of the deal. He said the agreement was struck before King Abdullah went to the United States in November for back surgery. "Any commitment on my part will not be carried out until the other party implements what they agreed to," the premier told Al-Hayat.
Meanwhile, a government official close to Hariri said the Syrian-Saudi deal calls for clear steps to ease tensions in Lebanon and reduce the rhetoric among the rival political parties. "All of the steps centre on a single objective which is domestic stability and the ability of Lebanon to absorb the indictment," he told AFP. "The government has been paralyzed for months and the political leaders should be able to discuss issues and that has not been happening," the official added. "We hoped to see the process translating into tension-easing steps but that has not so far happened," he said. "The ball is in their court."
The government official brushed aside as "off the mark" persistent reports in Lebanese and other newspapers that the Saudi-Syrian mediation deal calls for Hariri to reject the tribunal. "A pre-emptive rejection of the tribunal is unthinkable," he said. "The prime minister has not agreed to such a rejection. This is a tribunal requested by Lebanon, a tribunal requested to get the perpetrators (of Hariri's assassination), this is a national cause," the official stressed.
However, Minister of State for Administrative Reform Mohamad Fneish blamed the government paralysis on Hariri's camp. He said that the deadlock could be resolved if the cabinet agreed to debate the issue of alleged fake witnesses in the Hariri case.
Speaker Nabih Berri has on Thursday told Al-Manar that January will be decisive in solving the Lebanese crisis and stressed there is no alternative to the Saudi-Syrian initiative. "The initiative is active and has returned" to the Lebanese scene, he said after a phone talk with Hariri. He reiterated that the Arab efforts to solve the crisis had reached a standstill with Saudi King Abdullah's illness but said "the initiative recovered and the level of optimism began rising."
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