BEIRUT: A Syrian-Lebanese summit is expected to take place soon, several media reports said Sunday.
The expected summit, to be held in Damascus, would follow up on Saudi-Syrian talks in Riyadh on Sunday, as well as the previous tripartite meeting in July between the Lebanese, Syrian and Saudi heads of state in Beirut. Both meetings were aimed at easing mounting tensions over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).
In a bid to contain tensions over the UN-backed tribunal’s impending indictment, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz made a joint visit to Beirut with Syrian President Bashar Assad in late July, during which they stressed the need to maintain political calm and stability.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hizbullah have been caught in a standoff in recent months over reports that the STL will indict “rogue” members of Hizbullah in the assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The tripartite meeting that took place in July preceded a Syrian-Saudi rapprochement in 2009 after four years of broken ties between Damascus and Riyadh. The summit paved the way toward the formation of a national unity Cabinet headed by Saad Hariri following the June 2009 parliamentary polls.
In 2008, Syria and Saudi Arabia brokered a Lebanese agreement in Doha under the sponsorship of Qatar, ending street battles between pro-opposition and pro-government gunmen that erupted following the Cabinet’s decision to dismantle Hizbullah’s telecommunications network. –The Daily Star
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