Saudi, Syria urge Lebanon unity government
SYRIA: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi King 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 Hariri has
failed to reach agreement with the Shiite 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.
DAMASCUS, Friday, AFP
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