AL chief to visit Syria to tackle on Lebanese issue

Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa is scheduled to visit Syria on Sunday to exert efforts in solving the Lebanese political crisis, an AL statement said on Saturday.

After a meeting of the Arab League Council at the level of AL permanent delegates, Moussa said in a statement that he would later visit several other Arab countries concerned with the Lebanese crisis.

The AL chief began mediating between the Hezbollah-led opposition and Lebanese Premier Fouad Seniora's supporters in mid- December after the anti-government camp began an open-ended sit-in on Dec. 1 in downtown Beirut demanding the prime minister's resignation.

In January, conflicts between backers of the opposition and supporters of the government left several dead and hundreds injured.

However, the date of his visit to Lebanon is still being debated, he added, noting that he was in touch directly or through reports with all Lebanese officials and leaders.

The Arab drive to solve the Lebanese crisis has not reached a dead end, he asserted.

Meanwhile, Moussa said that the situation in Iraq necessitates that contacts be held with all of Baghdad's neighboring states, without ruling out the possibility of a visit to Iran as the Iranian government has extended to him an open invitation.

He dismissed claims that the visit has not materialized due to tense relations between a number of Arab countries and Iran, adding that Arab contacts with Iran are continuing and citing recent contacts made by Saudi Arabia.

Source: Xinhua