Friday,April 20,2007

DAMASCUS (AFP) – A Russian envoy held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the political stalemate in neighbouring Lebanon on Thursday

Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Sultanov also discussed the rampant insecurity in Syria’s eastern neighbour Iraq and the Middle East peace process, the official SANA news agency said.

The two men agreed that it was "necessary for all sides in Lebanon to thrash out a national consensus and settle their differences on the range of issues," the news agency said.

Lebanese politics have been paralysed since last November by an escalating dispute between pro- and anti-Syrian factions.

Opponents of Damascus have monopolised the cabinet since six pro-Syrian ministers precipitated the crisis by resigning.

But Syrian ally Nabih Berri remains speaker of parliament, a position which has enabled him to block the cabinet’s legislative programme, including flagship plans for an international court to try suspects in the 2005 murder of Damascus foe and former premier Rafiq Hariri.

Sultanov arrived in Damascus on Wednesday evening from Beirut where he called on Lebanon’s bickering factions to reach agreement on the proposed international court.

"We do not want to impose anything on the Lebanese. Russia will contribute to closing the gap between the different points of view," he said on his arrival in Beirut on Monday evening.

The rump anti-Syrian cabinet accuses pro-Damascus ministers of resigning to sabotage the court plans at the behest of Syrian officials, some of whom have been implicated in Hariri’s murder by a UN commission of inquiry.

But the pro-Syrian factions insist that they have no issue with the court plan in principle and merely want to be consulted on its drawing up.