Minister of State Nassib Lahoud told LBC television on Thursday night that President Michel Sleiman was preparing to propose an Arab initiative to confront terrorism and added that he discussed this issue with King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz during his visit to Saudi Arabia last week.

He said that the kingdom supported the Lebanese people and might help equipping the army with weapons.

He added that arresting the “terrorist cell” in Tripoli was a relief to the people of Lebanon who have been critical of the failure to bring criminals to justice.

He denied that President Sleiman had offered to mediate between Saudi Arabia and Syria, although he said that he would be ready to help if both countries asked him to.

He added that he did not object to the Syrian deployment along the northern borders with Lebanon but he did object to the the way it was implemented, and he called for coordination between both countries in any further procedures on the basis of respecting sovereignties, without paving the way for Syrian guardianship or intervention in Lebanese issues.

He said that both ambassadors should be diplomatic and professional and called for reconsideration of various treaties and the Syrian Lebanese Higher Council’s role.

He also prioritized solving the issue of detained and missing Lebanese persons in Syrian prisons and discussing the border demarcation process, which he said was strategically important.

He hoped that Syria would not be involved in former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination and called on the authorities to cooperate with the Special Tribunal.

He called on the international community not to give Syria an excuse to intervene in Lebanese issues and supported any Europe and the United States’ openness toward Syria as long as it is not at the expense of Lebanon.

He expressed reservations about Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun’s visit to Tehran, because he said, the Aoun was trying to undermine President Sleiman’s visit to the kingdom.

-NOW Staff