Excerpts: "Life beyond Syria and Saudi Arabia"for Lebanon.Saudi/Syria re
Lebanon.Saudi demands/Syrian responses.Concerted Arab states effort to fight
piracy.June 30, 2009
+++THE DAILY STAR (Lebanon)30 June '09:"EDITORIAL:It's too simplistic to
blame
outside powers for the latest clashes in Lebanon"
QUOTE: People will monitor capitals like Damascus (Syria) and Riyadh (Saudi)
as the Cabinet negotiations proceed,"
EXCERPTS:As Lebanon picks up the pieces from its latest round of civil
strife, a brief (for now) flare-up in the Beirut neighborhood of Aisha
Bakkar, we should remember that there is life beyond S and S, or Syria and
Saudi Arabia. These two countries' actions are being examined as we wonder
how smoothly the process of forming the next government will go. Who said
what? Who received whom? Who isn't talking to whom?
But in Lebanon, we should remember that today it's Saudi Arabia and Syria,
while in the past, it used to be the US and the USSR. There have been times
when it was Syria and Israel. And so on and so forth. One combination or
another of foreign countries are, at a given time, players in our
(political) real estate. But there is life beyond this. More specifically,
local life.
Lebanese have repeatedly proven their resilience, and ability to get on with
their lives after civil and other trauma. . . .One might be tempted to
"read" such incidents all the way to the top - as if Damascus, Riyadh,
Washington, or Tehran was behind it. Such complex interpretations aren't
always relevant. The Lebanese do exist, and are not just diplomatic fodder
for others. And, we deserve respect; our lives and livelihoods have already
experienced too much damage due to political tension and conflict.
Our politicians must eliminate the militia-like behavior that erupted in
Aisha Bakkar, and remember to whom they're responsible - the majority of
society, the kind of people who rebuild after destruction, not engage in it.
Saad Hariri, as he seeks to form a government, can give us a true departure
in politics if he invests in the average Lebanese. But he has to present
something credible and new, winning people over by showing that politicians
are going to start solving problems like Aisha Bakkar, and not act as the
cause of them. People will monitor capitals like Damascus and Riyadh as the
Cabinet negotiations proceed. But this is no excuse for ignoring our local
problems, some of which deserve immediate attention.
+++NAHARNET 30 June '09:"Khoja in Beirut as Syria Awaits Saudi Response"
QUOTE:""Riyadh(Saudi)is seeking to supply guarantees for 'all thos who need
guarantees and have obsessions like Hizbullah' "
FULL TEXT:Enhanced contacts between Damascus and Riyadh related to the
Lebanon situation have been a priority for the Saudi Kingdom.
The first event in Damascus, where SANA officially declared that a meeting
between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi envoy Prince Abdul Aziz,
King Abdullah's son, accompanied by Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja,
had taken place in the Syrian capital.
As Safir newspaper on Tuesday) said Syria was quick to respond to a number
of ideas put forth by the Saudi side.
It said the Syrian side, however, still awaits response from Riyadh on a
number of questions and on PM-designate Saad Hariri's views with regards to
future Lebanon-Syria relations.
The second event in Beirut, where Khoja arrived Monday night and met upon
arrival with PM-designate Saad Hariri before heading to Ain el-Tineh for
talks with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Khoja told As Safir the "intentions are good, and we are optimistic."
"The Lebanese are going to hear good news," he assured.
Al Akhbar daily, however, said not only Khoja was in Beirut, but also the
Saudi Prince who arrived along with the Saudi information minister on an
unannounced visit.
It said Prince Abdul Aziz kicked off separate meetings with leaders from the
majority March 14 coalition.
Al Akhbar quoted a senior source from al-Mustaqbal Movement as saying that
Riyadh is seeking to provide guarantees for "all those who need guarantees
and have obsessions like Hizbullah" regarding the Cabinet line-up.
The source said these guarantees would help ease the knot over the
differences of shares in the new Cabinet.
+++NAHARNET (Lebanon) 30 June '09:"Opposition Media: This is What Riyadh
Requested and What Damascus Replied "Published originally on 29 June)
QUOTE:"Damascus willing to resolve the border issue after the demarcation of
Shebaa farms 'so the Jewish state will not benefit' "
FULL TEXT:High-ranking diplomatic sources said Damascus and Riyadh exchanged
a basket of demands during talks between Saudi envoy Prince Abdul Aziz, King
Abdullah's son, and Syrian officials last Wednesday.
The daily Al Akhbar said the Saudi prince carried with him 4 demands -- end
to armed Palestinian presence outside refugee camps, demarcation of
Lebanon-Syria border and Shebaa Farms, Pressure on the Opposition to make it
abandon its veto power demand and elimination of the higher Lebanese-Syrian
Council.
Syria's response was as follows, according to Al Akhbar: Palestinian arms
outside refugee camps are not Syrian weapons. It called on the Lebanese
government to hold talks with the concerned Palestinian factions to put an
end to this issue, stressing that this is a Lebanese-Palestinian issue and
Syria has nothing to do with it.
It said Damascus expressed willingness to resolve the border issue after the
demarcation of Shebaa Farms "so the Jewish State will not benefit."
Regarding veto power, Syria insisted this is a Lebanese issue.
On demands for the elimination of the Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council,
Damascus saw no sense in canceling it before a "healthy" naturalization
takes place between the two countries.
+++SAUDI GAZETTE 30 June '09:"Arabs plan anti-piracy joint force",Agencies
SUBJECT: Concerted Arab states effort to fight piracy.
FULL TEXT:RIYADH - Arab states of the Gulf and Red Sea said Monday(29 June)
that they are planning a joint anti-piracy force, insisting defense of the
crucial Red Sea waterway was the "primary responsibility" of littoral
states.
Saying it was necessary to prevent the spread of piracy to the Red Sea or
the Gulf, 11 regional states agreed to set up an all-Arab Navy Task Force,
to be led at the outset by the Saudis, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The delegates to the conference in the Saudi capital stressed the
"importance of the exclusion of the Red Sea from any international
arrangements, especially the fight against sea piracy."
Royal Saudi Navy commander Lieutenant General Prince Fahd Bin Abdullah told
journalists: "This subject is now under negotiation and we are hoping to
reach an agreement to form this force."
Joining the talks were representatives from Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt,
Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates
and Yemen.
Prince Fahd said part of the effort would be to design ways of cooperating
with the flotillas from some 20 foreign countries now patrolling sea lanes
in the Gulf of Aden and off the Horn of Africa to stop pirate attacks.
"One of the objectives of the meeting is to discuss joint Arab coordination
with multinational forces operating in the region to combat piracy and to
agree on the mechanisms of the Arab contribution" to these efforts, he said.
He said that the Gulf states were involved in the proposed task force
because of the danger posed to their shipping, particularly vital oil and
gas exports which pass via the Red Sea to the Suez Canal and the
Mediterranean.
A joint statement said the Saudi navy will coordinate efforts by the other
Arab naval commands on the Red Sea and Gulf for a period of one year and
then review the results.
Another meeting on the issue will be scheduled in two months, it said.
More than 70 vessels, including a fully-laden Saudi oil supertanker, have
been hijacked for ransom by Somali pirates in the past two years. Despite
patrols by a raft of foreign navies, attacks are still frequently reported.
Saudi Arabia has said in recent months that it has stepped up its high-seas
patrols for pirates.
The International Maritime Bureau has reported a handful of attempted pirate
attacks, none successful, at the southern end of the Red Sea this year,
mostly in the strategically important Bab Al-Mandab strait linking to the
Gulf of Aden.
The bureau recorded no attacks in the Red Sea last year.
==========================================
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA
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