Praise for outcome of Saudi-Syria summitOctober 10, 2009 BEIRUT:
Lebanese newspapers yesterday welcomed the outcome of the Saudi-Syrian summit that encouraged the formation of a unity government in Beirut and stressed that it was now up to the Lebanese to settle their differences.
Summit of consensus in Damascus: for a national unity government in Lebanon," said the front-page headline in the daily As-Safir, which is close to the Hezbollah-led opposition supported by Syria and Iran. The Syrian-Saudi summit shows no Lebanese can overpower another," read the headline in Al-Akhbar, another pro-opposition daily.
Analyst Saadallah Mazraani dubbed the two-day visit to Syria by Saudi King Abdullah as "the first US failure" in his column for Al-Akhbar.Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after meeting in Damascus on Thursday urged the formation of a national unity government in Lebanon, saying it would be the "basis for stability, unity and strength.
Dailies close to the Saudi-backed majority, too, welcomed the joint Saudi-Syrian call. "The majority welcomes the summit and hopes for an end to obstacles in forming the government," read a headline in the daily Al-Mustaqbal, which is run by the family of prime minister-designate Saad Hariri.Hariri has endeavored to form a national unity government since June, when his Western- and Saudi-backed coalition clinched victory in a general election over a Hezbollah-led alliance.
However it was widely believed that barring a thaw in relations between regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Syria, his efforts were bound to fail. Syria was the main powerbroker in Lebanon for nearly 30 years until the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father Rafiq, a five-time premier who was close to the Saudi monarchy and held Saudi nationality. There were widespread suspicions that Syria was behind the killing, an allegation Damascus has consistently denied. Hariri's assassination all but froze relations between Damascus and Riyadh, which were already at odds over the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.
Saudi Arabia also disapproves of the Syrian regime's close ties to Iran and Hezbollah. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem was quoted by As-Safir on Friday as saying that this week's summit between the two countries was "a success on all levels. The goal of both Syria and Saudi Arabia is the stability of Lebanon, and we feel that forming a national unity government is the key," he told the Lebanese daily.
"It will be formed by the Lebanese and we support all consensus," he added. "The ball is now in the Lebanese court." "The results of the summit will not be immediately apparent, but ... we have overcome our differences and they are behind us now."
--- AFP
