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Western powers press Lebanon to fill vacant presidency
AFP, December
15, 2007
by Hala
Boncompagni
BEIRUT, Dec 15,
2007 (AFP) - A US envoy urged feuding Lebanese politicians
on Saturday to elect a new president to restore "dignity" to
a position vacant for three weeks, as France warned a vote
set for the coming week is the "last chance" to resolve the
crisis.
"The United
States believes that it is time now to elect a new
president," US Middle East envoy David Welch said in Beirut,
ahead of a new session of parliament called for Monday after
eight attempts to elect a president failed.
"It is time for
this process to be completed. There is no reason for any
further delay," he said.
"We believe
that members of parliament must fulfil their duty... to
restore dignity and respect to the most important Christian
office," Welch said.
"We know there
are many pressures from within and from outside, but the
American people and the administration will support
Lebanon," he said.
Lebanon has
been without a president since Emile Lahoud stepped down on
November 23 without a successor in place, triggering the
country's worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The
Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has
been unable to reach agreement with the Syrian- and
Iranian-backed opposition on a replacement for the
pro-Syrian Lahoud.
Welch held a
one-hour meeting with pro-opposition parliament speaker
Nabih Berri, during which he said he "made several points to
the speaker", ahead of separate talks with Siniora and
ruling majority leader Saad Hariri.
Earlier, he met
Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, spiritual leader of the Maronite
Christian community from which Lebanese presidents are
conventionally drawn, as well as Christian leader Samir
Geagea.
Welch's
previously unannounced visit came a day after a state
funeral for senior army commander Brigadier General Francois
el-Hajj who was killed in a car bombing on Wednesday.
Hajj had been
tipped to become army chief if a compromise plan to elect
incumbent General Michel Sleiman as president is accepted by
MPs on Monday.
Sleiman's
election requires an amendment to the constitution which
bars government employees from becoming head of state within
two years of leaving their jobs.
France, the
former colonial power in Lebanon which has been heavily
involved in international mediation efforts, warned the
feuding factions and their foreign sponsors that time was
running out for a solution.
"Monday is
really the last chance, and France calls on all parties,
inside and outside, to ensure that Lebanon can have a
president," President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday.
"Those (who)
would take the risk of killing off that chance would cut
themselves off from a number of countries, first among them
France."
On Thursday, US
President George W. Bush accused Syria of "interference" in
Lebanon and said this action must end.
Efforts to push
through Sleiman's election have foundered amid demands by
the Hezbollah-led opposition for agreement on the shape of
the next government ahead of the vote.
"We want a
consensus president as part of a full basket... All we are
talking about is the cabinet which must represent all
parties and confessions," deputy Hezbollah leader Naim
Qassem said in comments published on Saturday.
The opposition
pulled its six ministers out of the cabinet in November last
year, demanding a national unity government to replace
Siniora's cabinet which they consider illegitimate.
The standoff
has paralysed the government's legislative programme,
including flagship plans for an international tribunal to
try suspects in the 2005 murder of five-times prime minister
Rafiq Hariri, a crime widely blamed on Syria.
The outgoing
head of the UN inquiry into the killing Serge Brammertz of
Belgium and his successor Daniel Bellemare of Canada met
separately with Berri and Sioniora on Saturday, officials
said. |
