Saudi, Syria urge Lebanon unity govt: SANA

DAMASCUS: Syrian President Bashar al-AssadBashar al-Assad and Saudi King AbdullahKing Abdullah buried the hatchet over Lebanon on Thursday and urged the formation of a national unity government.

Speaking at the end of a landmark two-day visit to Syria by the Saudi monarch, they underlined ‘the importance of the agreement amongst the Lebanese, who (are likely to) find common ground to form a government of national unity,’ state news agency SANA reported.

‘A national unity government is the basis for stability, unity and strength in Lebanon,’ SANA quoted them as saying as Abdullah rounded off his first visit to Damascus since taking the throne in 2005.

Lebanon has been without a government since a general election in June, because Riyadh-backed prime minister-designate Saad HaririSaad Hariri has failed to reach agreement with the Shia Hezbollah-led bloc, supported by Syria and Iran.

The two leaders also called for ‘a halt to aggression against the Palestinian people, dealing with the Judaisation of Jerusalem and unifying Arab and Muslim efforts to lift the embargo’ on Palestinians.

And they said they ‘support security and stability in Iraq’ and called for national reconciliation, ‘ahead of an independent, free and developed Iraq.’

In another sign of improving ties, Syria and Saudi Arabia agreed to promote bilateral trade and investment, the news agency said.

Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed al-Hussein and his Saudi counterpart, Ibrahim Assaf, said the volume of trade, currently only two billion dollars (1.4 billion euros) a year, will ‘begin growing in the coming days,’ SANA said.

‘We have decided to remove the difficulties hindering commercial exchanges, notably the taxes recently imposed by Syria on products exported to Saudi Arabia,’ such as olive oil and ceramics, Hussein was quoted as saying.

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, something Damascus has consistently denied.

The murder further soured relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia, which had already been damaged by the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Riyadh has also been at odds with Damascus over its warm relations with Saudi Arabia’s rival, Shia Iran, and its support for Hezbollah.

In early July, Riyadh named a new ambassador to Syria after leaving the post vacant for a year, and a visit by Abdullah has been in the works since that time, Saudi officials say.

In Beirut, the Saudi-Syrian call drew mixed early reactions.

An MP in Hariri’s parliamentary bloc said it was ‘insufficient.’

‘There are other factors — domestic and foreign — that come into play,’ Moustapha Allouche said, raising the question of how Iran might influence Hezbollah.

Ali Hamadeh, a columnist with pro-Hariri daily An-Nahar, made a similar point earlier. He said it was still too soon to know what impact the summit might have for the role of Iran, which has been Syria’s main regional ally for some 30 years.

‘The question is: What is the Iranian stance towards Syrian-Saudi rapprochement? And will they release their hold over the Lebanese government,’ he said.

Opposition deputy Alain Aoun said he considered the call to be a ‘positive’ one, which he said he hoped would help lead to formation of a government.

Earlier, Nicolas Nassif, a columnist for Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper, close to the opposition, said the summit ‘acknowledges the mutual interests both countries have in Lebanon and that neither can alone have the upper hand.’

‘Saudi Arabia wants Saad Hariri to succeed in his bid to form a government,’ he told AFP. ‘And Syria considers that the opposition’s participation in the new government will outweigh their loss in the election.’

Columnist Sateh Nureddine in As-Safir, another pro-opposition newspaper, wrote that ‘the only central dispute between Syria and Saudi Arabia was and remains Lebanon