Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Saturday urged Syria to make a "positive move" to help implement an Arab plan leading to the election of a president in Lebanon after slamming attempts to derail it.

 

"We hope... the (Arab) summit will come up with a solution to the Lebanese crisis in keeping with the Arab League's initiative... especially since the summit is being held in Damascus, from whom we continue to await a positive move on the Lebanese scene to implement the initiative," he told reporters.

 

A positive Syrian step would "complement the intense efforts exerted by Saudi Arabia and a number of Arab countries" to break the deadlock in Lebanon, Saud said at a news conference aired on Saudi-owned television channels.

 

Riyadh has sent only a low-ranking diplomat to the Arab summit which opened in Damascus on Saturday after falling out with Syria over the political crisis in Lebanon, which has been without a president since November.

 

Syria backs the Lebanese opposition led by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, while Saudi Arabia and several other Arab states back the ruling majority, which also enjoys Western support.

 

Saud slammed what he called attempts to block the Arab League plan and said he did not rule out another Arab meeting on Lebanon after the Damascus summit, which is being boycotted by Beirut.

 

"If the summit ends without solving the Lebanon problem, shall we let the crisis fester until Lebanon is partitioned and hit by another disaster?" he asked.

 

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora on Friday urged Arab League foreign ministers to hold a special meeting as soon as possible in a bid to repair tense Lebanese-Syrian relations, after he blamed Syria for the protracted crisis.


Saud said Arab League chief Amr Mussa had in turn proposed holding an extraordinary Arab summit on Lebanon.

 

"I don't know which (proposal) will be (adopted), but in any case the problem cannot be left without a solution," Saud said.

 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denied in his opening speech to the Arab summit that Damascus interferes in the domestic affairs of Lebanon.

 

On Thursday Syria had urged Saudi Arabia to use its influence to help solve Lebanon's political crisis.

 

"The Syrian efforts alone are not enough. The Arab parties that are friendly with and have influence in Lebanon must exert efforts," Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said in Damascus. (AFP)