JERUSALEM (CNN)  21 may 2008– Israeli and Syrian officials confirmed Wednesday they are indirectly negotiating a possible peace deal under Turkish mediation.

A U.N. soldier looks out from an observation tower in the largely abandoned city of Quneitra in the Golan Heights.

At a speech in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday night, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the disclosure of the talks was the end of a phase that had been going on for over a year.

He also said that he has no illusions and that the negotiations will be difficult, lengthy and will require difficult concessions.

Earlier, Olmert’s office issued a statement saying: "The two sides stated their intention to conduct these talks in good faith and with an open mind."

It was the first official confirmation of the indirect talks between Israel and Syria. Turkish and Syrian officials also confirmed the talks.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six Day War, and the area has been a source of contention since.

The last round of peace negotiations between the two countries broke down in 2000, after Syria demanded a full return of the Golan.

For its part, Israel wants Syria to abandon its support of Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups as part of any peace agreement.

The United States has been informed about the indirect talks, according to Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, who praised Turkey for playing "a good and useful role."

Welch noted that the United States is not playing any role in those talks, adding that President Bush is focused on getting an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by the end of this year.

"The expansion of the circle of peace would be a good thing and it would be helpful if that includes an agreement with Syria," Welch said.

Wednesday’s announcement comes about a month after Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad admitted his country has been indirectly negotiating with Israel for about a year under the auspices of Turkey.

His admission last month, in an interview with a leading Arabic language newspaper, confirmed long-standing rumors that the two countries were discussing the Golan Heights.

A week after the interview, senior Israeli officials met with their Turkish counterparts and agreed to publicly announce the year-long talks.

الاتحاد المسيحي الديمقراطي اللبناني                _______        علـم وخبـر 262 / أ.د.         ت 20/9/1988             إستقبل النائب نعمة الله أبي نصر رئيس الإتحاد المسيحي الديمقراطي اللبناني في مكتبه السفيرين ؛ غابريال كيكيا سفير إيطاليا وميغيل بنزو سفير إسبانيا بحضور الأمين العام للإتحاد الدكتور عبده جرجس ، تأتي زيارة السفيرين ضمن جولاتهما على بعض الأحزاب والفعاليات المسيحية […]

مع شكرنا لكلّ الدول التي سعت وساهمت في إنجاح اجتماعات الدوحة وبصورة خاصة دولة قطر بشخص أميرها ؛ يمكننا أن نستخلص العبر التالية :       أثبتت التجارب أننا عاجزون عن الإجتماع والحوار وإستنباط الحلول بدون وسيط أو رقيب أو وصي ؛ إن أسوء ما وصلنا إليه اليوم هو اعتراف اللبنانيين وعلى رأسهم السياسيِّين بعجزهم وتسليمهم بمقولة […]

Beirut – Lebanon’s  army commander Michel Suleiman will be Lebanon’s ‘unity president’ after rival Lebanese political factions agreed, after talks in Qatar, to end their differences in a deal to resolve the 18-month crisis that has kept the country without a president since November.  Suleiman will be Lebanon’s 12th president since the country gained its independence in 1943 and the third after the Saudi-brokered taef-accord. General Suleiman, 59, has held his post as commander since 1998. He is seen as a neutra and strong unifyingl figure in the country. He is credited with keeping the military together in the political upheaval and tensions that Lebanon was affected.  The head of Lebanon’s army has been credited with keeping the army on the sidelines.  He has called on the 56,000-strong army to ignore politics and "listen to the call of duty".  Until relatively recently, Gen Suleiman kept a low public profile.  His apparent neutrality has earned him the respect of both the opposition and ruling coalition.

Lebanon’s parliament has failed 19 times to elect a president for the country since the former president Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his mandate November 23rd 2007.

Lebanon has given itself a chance to end a miserable, murderous cycle (daily star)

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Suleiman joined the Lebanese Military Academy as a student officer in 1976. He graduated from the Military Academy as 2nd Lieutenant in 1970.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political and Administrative Sciences from the Lebanese University. He also holds a Masters in English and French. In the early-to-mid 1990s, he commanded an infantry brigade which engaged in violent confrontations with the Israeli army in southern Lebanon.  He was appointed as army commander on December 21, 1998, succeeding Emile Lahoud after he was elected president.   Gen Suleiman also oversaw the army’s deployment near the border with Israel after Hezbollah fought a war with Israel in 2006. Since then, however, he has distanced himself from Islamist militants. In 2005, he won praise for keeping the army on the sidelines during the political upheaval following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.  He refused to crush the massive anti-Syrian protests that gripped Beirut during the spring of 2005, helping to force the Syrian military out of Lebanon.  Two years later, Gen Suleiman rose to national prominence after the army battled and defeated al-Qaeda-inspired militants in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the country. At the end of the operation, pictures of a victorious Gen Suleiman graced roadside billboards, with the words: "At your command."  The broad backing for the army and its leader helped Gen Suleiman’s emergence as a candidate for the presidency. Gen Suleiman has long argued that the army’s role is to maintain the country’s peace and stability – and not"get muddled in politics".  In a recent tour of troop positions in the south of the country, Gen Suleiman stressed his belief that "involving the army in internal clashes only serves the interests of Israel".

 One of his major quotes is that ‘the state exists because the army is the guardian of the structure of this state.’  He is married to Wafaa Suleiman and has three children. Amshit, 40 kilometres north of Beirut, where Suleiman is from, was getting prepared Wednesday for festivities connected to the election.  Amsheet Mayor Antoin Issa told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, that pictures were being put up ‘of the new leader of the country Michel Suleiman and the son of Amsheet.’  Posters reading ‘the real leader of Lebanon’ were erected across Beirut and some people were already distributing sweets to celeberate the election and the end of the political crisis.

DOHA – Rival Lebanese leaders signed a deal on Wednesday to end 18 months of political conflict that had pushed their country to the brink of a new civil war. The deal, concluded after six days of Arab-mediated talks in Qatar, paved the way for parliament to elect army chief General Michel Suleiman as president, filling a post vacant since November because of the political deadlock. Lebanese Parliament speaker Nabih Berri said Suleiman would be elected president this week most likely on Sunday May 25th. The deal between the ruling coalition and the  opposition resolved a dispute over a parliamentary election law and met the opposition’s long-standing demand  to obtain 11 Cabinet seats under the deal.  In fact lin a ate night meeting on Tuesday of a six-member committee to discuss the electoral law finally achieved a breakthrough. Following a short session, opposition MP Ali Hassan Khalil told NBN television that a settlement was in the offing.  The feuding parties have finally managed to agree on dividing Beirut into three balanced constituencies. The first constituency is a Christian one with five seats, the second is a mixed one with four seats, and the third is a Sunni-dominated one with 10 seats.  On the other hand, Reform and Change bloc leader Michel Aoun will have to fight to win the five seats in the Christian district as the Armenian vote will be a deciding factor in the mixed constituency. Up until the last minute, Aoun was reportedly fighting to put six seats in the Christian district, but ended up accepting the 10-5-4 formula. The current ruling coalition will get 16 seats. The remaining seats will be distributed by the incoming president, in the 30-member cabinet.   Under the deal, the two sides also agreed on an electoral law, which divides the Mediterranean Sea country into smaller-sized political districts. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri also will call parliament to session to elect army chief, Gen. Michel Suleiman, as the country new president in the next 24 hours, the Qatari prime minister said.

"The parties agreed that the speaker of parliament will call within 24 hours for the election of General Michel Suleiman as president of the republic," Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani said, reading from the agreement at the signing ceremony in Doha.  A few bursts of celebratory gunfire broke out in Beirut’s after the announcement. Lebanese television stations showed Lebanese politicians and their Arab hosts congratulating and hugging one another.

Speaking in Doha at the ceremony, Berri said opposition supporters would also dismantle their "tent city" protest camp.which the opposition has started immediately. The opposition has been camped out for more than a year in downtown Beirut across from the prime minister’s office. Berri said this would be a "gift" from the opposition, hailing the Doha agreement. Saniora, also addressing the ceremony, called on the Lebanese to reject violence and asked Arab states to help support Lebanon’s army, which kept a neutral role during the latest clashes. "We must … pledge never to resort to arms to resolve our political differences," Saniora said. "We should accept each other and hold dialogue to solve the problems. We want to live together and we will continue that. We have no other choice." The Doha-based negotiations came after the Arab League mediated a deal to end the week of deadly violence that paralyzed parts of the country. The Qatar negotiations hit snags from the very start, with neither side willing to give concessions.  The agreement was reached after host Qatar stepped up the pressure Tuesday with Qatari Emir Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani personally intervening.  "There are no losers," said Lebanese Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, "Lebanon is the winner."

Daily star: Lebanese lawmakers are set to elect the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman, as president on Sunday after rival political leaders clinched a deal in Doha on Wednesday to end an 18-month feud that exploded into deadly sectarian fighting and threatened to plunge the nation into all-out civil war.  The deal that was reached at Doha after four days of intensive talks will lead to electing Suleiman, forming a national unity cabinet, and drafting a new electoral law for the 2009 parliamentary elections.  The agreement was announced by Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani at noon Wednesday as the rival leaders gathered at a roundtable.  "Some of you took to the streets asking your leaders not to return to Lebanon without reaching an agreement … I would like to tell you that your leaders have finally agreed and they will shortly be on their way back," Sheikh Hamad said, addressing the Lebanese people.  The rival leaders officially signed the agreement shortly after it was announced.  They arrived in Beirut later in the day.  As the good news reached Beirut, people in the capital and in different areas of the country could not help but show their content and relief.  The feeling of relief was followed by instant action as opposition supporters began to remove tents at the site of their 18-month sit-in in Downtown Beirut after Speaker Nabih Berri declared an end to the protest.  Berri said that ending the sit-in was a gift from the opposition to the Doha agreement.    The speaker also thanked Qatari and Arab mediators for their role in helping Lebanese parties reach an agreement.  The long-awaited deal addressed two key issues of contention between the opposition and ruling majority.  As far as forming a national unity government is concerned, the opposition has managed to get its long-demanded veto power.  The new cabinet will be made up of 16 ministers for the parliamentary majority, 11 for the opposition, and three for the elected president. The 11 ministers (one third plus one of the 30-member cabinet) are all that it takes for the opposition to block any government decision to which its is opposed.  However, the next cabinet is not due to last long as it will resign by default when the parliamentary elections are due next spring.  Meanwhile, the most important deal of all was the agreement reached on drafting a new electoral law for the 2009 parliamentary elections.  The issue of the electoral law was the major hurdle to the success of the Doha talks after the rival sides, which approved adopting the qada (smaller district) as an electoral constituency, appeared at odds over how to divide seats in Beirut.  As the Doha talks were moving close to failure, a late night meeting on Tuesday of a six-member committee to discuss the electoral law finally achieved a breakthrough. Following a short session, opposition MP Ali Hassan Khalil told NBN television that a settlement was in the offing.  The feuding parties have finally managed to agree on dividing Beirut into three balanced constituencies. The first constituency is a Christian one with five seats, the second is a mixed one with four seats, and the third is a Sunni-dominated one with 10 seats.  The formula is likely to secure for parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri at least 10 out of Beirut’s 19 seats.  On the other hand, Reform and Change bloc leader Michel Aoun will have to fight to win the five seats in the Christian district as the Armenian vote will be a deciding factor in the mixed constituency. Up until the last minute, Aoun was reportedly fighting to put six seats in the Christian district, but ended up accepting the 10-5-4 formula.  As for other parts of the country, the two sides agreed on adopting the divisions of the 1960 electoral law.  Prime Minister Fouad Siniora described the agreement as a "great achievement in … the history of Lebanon."  Speaking shortly after the Qatari emir announced the agreement, Siniora called on all Lebanese parties to condemn violence and pledge not to use arms to settle political disputes.  The Doha agreement has committed all parties not to use violence and stated that security was the exclusive responsibility of the Lebanese state.   Under the agreement, a dialogue is set to begin in Beirut to address the issue of the state’s relations with political groups in the country. Such dialogue is to be held under the auspices of the new president.  The issue of Hizbullah’s possession of arms was not discussed at the Doha talks or mentioned in the agreement as the Arab committee decided to make do with banning the use of violence, a clear reference to the recent clashes in Lebanon between opposition and pro-government militants.  The clashes left up to 65 dead and 250 wounded.  Hariri also praised the deal.  "Today, we are opening a new page in Lebanon’s history," he said

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DOHA  – Arab mediators gave Lebanon’s  opposition a Wednesday deadline to respond to proposals aimed at resolving a political crisis which brought the country to the brink of civil war. Delegates said the proposals called  for the immediate election of a president, a cabinet in which the opposition had veto powers, a pledge to avoid violence […]

Rival leaders appeared back at square one on the fourth day of intense bargaining in Doha but mediators managed to get the talks going and maintained hope that a deal could still be reached to pull Lebanon back from the brink of a civil strife. Government and opposition leaders have been in Qatar for several days […]

 Rival Lebanese leaders made progress on issues at the heart of their political crisis on Sunday but Qatari-mediated talks face major hurdles to a deal to pull Lebanon back from a civil war. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani met with members of th epro-government and opposition  end a crisis that has paralyzed the government and left Lebanon with no president. But delegates said Sheikh Hamad had yet to win final approval on one of the prickliest issues on the agenda — the shape of a new government — after making several proposals including one to split seats three ways equally among rivals.  A six-member committee created on Saturday to lay the framework for a new election law has made progress and was now working out the details of how to divide Beirut electorally.  Delegates said Sheikh Hamad brought together Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a senior opposition leader, for the first time in 18 months as part of efforts to solve the crisis that has left Lebanon with no president and taken it close to civil war.  Delegates said the differences were slowly narrowing over the two key issues on the agenda — a new election law and power-sharing in the government.

The 14 political leaders in Qatar did not meet again after a first session on Saturday. Instead, a joint committee tasked with addressing an electoral law for a parliamentary poll due next year began work. "We are trying to resolve differences," opposition MP and committee member Ali Hasan Khalil told reporters.  The factions differ on the delineation of constituencies, fearing they would lose parliamentary seats due to demographic changes which would follow any alteration of boundaries. Election laws have always been a sensitive subject in Lebanon, a patchwork of religious sects where redrawing constituencies can have a dramatic impact on voting results.  A deal would lead to the election of army commander General Michel Suleiman as president. Both sides have accepted his nomination for a post reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.  "We are still leaving an opportunity because we still see the chance of reaching an understanding and this is what we came for," Hezbollah MP Mohammed Raad told his party’s al-Manar TV. Former President Amine Gemayel said to reporters: "I think we have resolved 90 percent of the hurdles facing the new election law. We have some obstacles left regarding some electoral constituencies," said Amin Gemayel, a former president and member of the ruling coalition.  "Hopefully, by evening we will have published a joint vision. We have to reach a solution in the end." Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani had yet to win final approval on the shape of a new government but had made several proposals, including one to split seats three ways equally among rivals, delegates said.  Secretary General Amr Moussa told Free Lebanon radio he expected "today to be a decisive day" at the Qatar talks that seek to end the 18-month political stalemate and facilitate the election of a president after a 6-month vacuum.

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DOHA  – Rival leaders tackled divisive issues at the heart of Lebanon’s political crisis on Saturday at Qatari-mediated talks aimed at pulling their country back from the brink of civil war. Government and opposition leaders left a conference room separately in the morning, after 90 minutes of tense talks. Delegates said a six-member committee established […]

DOHA (Reuters) – Rival Lebanese leaders flew to Qatar on Friday aiming to end a protracted political conflict that has pushed the country to the brink of a new civil war.Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani was due to open the talks in a Doha hotel at 9:00 pm (1800 GMT).  "Let us deal with matters calmly at the dialogue table. Each one of us and them must offer concessions to bury strife," Walid Jumblatt said during a tour of Druze villages. We are going to the dialogue with a great political wound," said Jumblatt, who later flew to Doha in a Qatar Airways plane along with both his allies and rivals. Lebanese forces leader Samir Geagea, former president Amin Gemayel and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt of the ruling coalition boarded a Qatari aircraft  along with opposition member and parliament speaker Nabih Berri and the Free Patriotic  leader Michel Aoun. The leader of the militant Shiite Hezbollah movement Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah did not go to Qatar, apparently for security reasons, but was to be represented by Hezbollah MP Mohammed Raad.

Arab mediators, led by the Qatari prime minister, concluded a deal on Thursday to end the fighting which killed 81 people and exacerbated sectarian tensions between Shi’ites loyal to Hezbollah and Druze and Sunni followers of the ruling coalition. "We are going to Doha …. to come back, God willing, with an agreement that will allow Lebanese to look forward, benefiting from the past and its bitter experience," Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said before leaving for Qatar.In another concession to the opposition, the ruling coalition also appears to have dropped its demands that the election of a new president precede discussions on a new cabinet and a new parliamentary election law — the two main issues on the agenda of the Qatar talks. "The atmosphere is excellent and we will put our efforts into reaching a solution which is in the interest of all Lebanese," parliament speaker Nabih Berri, an opposition leader allied to Syria, told as-Safir.

The feuding Lebanese politicians agreed on Thursday to launch a dialogue as part of a six-point plan, following Arab League mediation led by Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani. Under the deal the rivals undertook "to shore up the authority of the Lebanese state throughout the country," to refrain from using weapons to further political aims and to remove militants from the streets. It also called for the removal of roadblocks that paralysed air traffic and closed major highways, and for the rivals to refrain from using language that could incite violence. Life began returning to normal in Beirut on Friday as the port, businesses and many schools reopened. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told Beirut’s pro-opposition daily As-Safir that "Syria supports the agreement." He called it "a real opportunity to save Lebanon from the dangers it faces," but warned against "international interference that could have negative impacts." Lebanon’s pro-government daily An-Nahar described the deal as "an achievement bordering on a miracle," although the country still remained on the brink. "Beirut’s streets and airport returned to what they were before May 5, but this return does not mean the retreat of the explosive political situation." The pro-opposition newspaper Al-Akhbar said: "Those going to Doha today carry an immense patriotic duty in their hands. "Lebanon will be relieved of its leaders for a few days, but people are still worried about picking up the pieces of their lives as they are still under threat in the event the Doha meeting fails to bring a comprehensive solution." A group of disabled people, some bearing injuries from Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, gathered on the Beirut airport road bearing signs for the leaders: "If you don’t agree, don’t come back."

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