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Arabs Urged to Take Tough Stand Against Syria
Naharnet,
Lebanon, January 1, 2008
A meeting of
Arab foreign ministers scheduled for Sunday in Cairo should
call for holding presidential election in Lebanon without
foreign intervention and prior-conditions, An Nahar's Rosana
Boumounsef wrote Tuesday.
Such a stand,
she noted, would be based on the statement released by
chairman of the U.N. Security Council on Dec. 12, which
stressed on the need to hold presidential elections in
Lebanon as a top priority for the trouble-ridden nation.
The Arab
foreign ministers' statement also should "reaffirm the
importance of assignments carried out by the (Saniora)
government and the army," she wrote.
"If such an
approach was adopted with the approval of all Arab states,
then an Arab stand could be crystallized in alliance with
European, American and international stands … that sets the
stage for a new stand by the U.N. Security Council" on the
Lebanon situation, she added.
However,
Boumounsef concluded by cautioning the Arabs against
refraining from adopting a "tough stand towards Syria
because that would mean the new Arab initiative is a mere
diplomatic and political move to fill in the vacuum and kill
time, which will be very long." |
