Mon Feb 26, 6:55 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said Monday he was in Washington to ask for US aid to fight Syrian influence in his country.

"It is not a secret. Yes I am seeking assistance," said Jumblatt, a prominent lawmaker from the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority.

 27, 2007

BEIRUT: Iran denied Monday the existence of any joint plan with Saudi Arabia to break the political deadlock in Lebanon, but said the two regional powers were talking with all Lebanese sides in order to help resolve the situation. "There is no set Saudi-Iranian plan," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said during a news conference with former Lebanese Premier Salim al-Hoss, who is visiting Tehran as part of a mission to resolve the current political deadlock.

"But we are carrying out negotiations with the various Lebanese sides and there have even been suggestions to bring the sides closer," Mottaki added.

Iran's top national security official, Ali Larijani, has held talks with Saudi officials in Riyadh twice this year, while his Saudi counterpart, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, visited Tehran in late January.

"The talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia were to shed light on the different angles of the situation in Lebanon and on how we can bring the different points of view closer," said Mottaki

In the charming if somewhat rundown marina of Larnaca, the cedar-emblazoned flag of Lebanon flies proudly from a yacht as nearby Israelis clad in kippa and prayer shawl prepare for the Sabbath. The holiday island of Cyprus and its coastal resorts, which have long played host to sworn foes in the Middle East, is once again gearing up to serve as safe haven for a troubled region.But given the bloodshed just 160km away across the water in Lebanon, the Israeli boats moored alongside the Lebanese yacht have opted to play it safe and not hoist the Star of David. For it was here, in a violation of the unofficial Arab-Israeli truce on this Mediterranean island, that a Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) commando killed three Israelis on their boat in Larnaca marina in September 1985, claiming they were Mossad agents.

Nearby, a Lebanese boy asked his father what language their neighbours in the marina were speaking among themselves. Jean-Philippe el-Khazen, the 50-year-old skipper of a 10m yacht, one of three Lebanese vessels stranded in Larnaca by Israel's air and sea blockade, had nothing but praise for his Cypriot hosts. "The Cypriots always welcome us ... They really put us at ease and are ready to assist in everything we need, even to take us by car to the supermarket," he said.

حسانة زبيب - أكد عضو كتلة التغيير والاصلاح النائب فريد الخازن ان امكانية الحل موجودة اذا وجدت النوايا لذلك مشيراً الى أن كلما طال أمد الأزمة تصبح الحلول أكثر صعوبة.

قال ان موضوع السلاح والتسلح عند التيار الوطني الحر غير وارد اطلاقاً، مشدداً على أن الجيش اللبناني هو القوة الشرعية المخولة حماية لبنان ويجب ايجاد المعالجات لمسألة السلاح الموجود عند البعض.
واشار الخازن الى أن المسيحيين عتبوا دائماً على بكركي لأنها لا تبادر... ولما قامت بالمبادرة عتبوا عليها لأنها بادرت، ودعا الى اخراج