Saudi, Syrian leaders visit Lebanon to defuse fears of violence between rival factions

Saudi, Syrian leaders make rare visit to Lebanon

BEIRUT — The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia launched an unprecedented effort Friday to defuse fears of violence over upcoming indictments in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Saudi King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar Assad stepped off the plane together after traveling from Damascus, making a strong public show of cooperation between two countries that for years vied for influence over Lebanon.

The men held a series of meetings with officials including Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the son of the slain statesman, and President Michel Suleiman. The leader of Hezbollah, who rarely appears in public, did not take part, but Hezbollah Cabinet ministers were on hand.

Few details about the discussions emerged, although Assad gave reporters a thumbs-up and said “it was an excellent summit” as he left Lebanon’s presidential palace. A joint statement issued Friday evening urged Arab unity, encouraging all parties to put Lebanon’s interests above all else and to refrain from violence.

“Solidarity is a necessity, and standing side-by-side to confront challenges facing the Arab world,” the statement said.

The one-day visit underscored the depth of Arab concern that new violence between Lebanon’s Shiite and Sunni communities could break out if the international tribunal investigating Hariri’s death implicates the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which is Syria’s main ally in Lebanon.

In May 2008, Hezbollah gunmen swept through Sunni pro-government neighborhoods of Beirut, raising fears the country could fall into a new civil war. That crisis was resolved only after fellow Arab countries mediated a truce and political compromise between the two sides that has tenuously held since.

Hariri was a Sunni leader with strong links to Saudi Arabia. The international tribunal investigating Hariri’s death has not announced who will be charged, but the leader of Hezbollah said last week members of his group will be among those indicted.

The summit was unusual on multiple levels, a sign of the depth of concern over the potential for violence. Assad rarely goes to Beirut — his last trip was in 2002, which at the time was the first visit by a Syrian leader to the Lebanese capital in nearly three decades.

Many in Lebanon blame Syria for the truck bombing on Valentine’s Day 2005 that killed Hariri, charges that Damascus denies. The blast deepened a rift between Assad and Saudi King Abdullah, who each backed rival sides in the ensuing power struggle that nearly tore Lebanon apart since 2005: Syria backing a Hezbollah-led coalition and Saudi Arabia and the United States supporting a Sunni-led coalition.

In recent years, however, Assad and Abdullah have repaired ties, and the joint visit was a sign of how far the rift has healed.

It also showed how dramatically the political landscape has changed since Hariri’s death sparked massive anti-Syrian protests in Lebanon, dubbed the “Cedar Revolution.” That helped lead to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in 2005, ending almost three decades of Syrian domination.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley noted the heightened concern over Lebanon.

“Our hope is that from this (meeting) there will be a recommitment to Lebanese sovereignty, there will be an understanding to try to restrain those elements within Lebanon who have precipitated conflict in the past,” Crowley told reporters.

Security was tight throughout Beirut on Friday as helicopters buzzed overhead and Beirut’s airport road was lined with Syrian and Saudi flags. Some banners portrayed Assad’s picture, saying “Welcome among your family.”

A key factor behind the concerns in Lebanon is that any turmoil within this country could expand into conflict with Israel, which fought a 2006 war with Hezbollah.

The head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, told the Saudi-owned Ashraq al-Awsat newspaper that Friday’s visit by the Saudi and Syrian leaders was a sign that the Arabs are rallying behind Lebanon to avert any “negative development or aggression.”

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s announcement that his militia members would be implicated in Hariri’s slaying appeared to be an attempt to undercut the repercussions of any indictment, and he dismissed the international tribunal as an “Israeli plot.”

Hezbollah said it supports Friday’s summit.

“We have a fixed policy of welcoming all kinds of Arab rapprochement and coordination toward what is good for the common Arab cause of independence, liberation and resisting the Israeli occupation and aggression,” Hezbollah spokesman Ibrahim Moussawi told The Associated Press.

Hezbollah has immediate concerns that go beyond the tribunal, however, sparked by reports that Syria sent Scud missiles to Hezbollah and suspicions that Hezbollah patron Iran wants to acquire nuclear weapons. Syria denies sending Scuds.

Fadia Kiwan, a political science professor at Beirut’s St. Joseph University, the joint visit was a welcome diplomatic step, but tensions will remain.

“If, God forbid, an indictment is released by the tribunal and it gave names, this could ignite the streets,” she said. “Politicians are now using a quiet language and trying to calm down the situation, but the problems are in the streets.”

Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue and Zeina Karam in Beirut and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.