BEIRUT (Agencies)
Arab League chief Amr Moussa left Lebanon on Saturday after failing again to end the stalemate over electing a new president despite bringing the feuding parties to sit together in a round-table meeting.
"We did not accomplish the required progress but we will pursue our contacts until a new meeting is held in the second half of February," Moussa told As-Safir newspaper.
"The situation is complicated and there is a lack" of trust between the two camps, he said.
Members of the Western-backed ruling majority and their rival in the opposition, which is backed by Syria and Iran, blamed each other for Moussa's failure to bridge the gap and pave the way for an election Monday.
Pro-opposition daily Al-Akhbar reported that the majority told Moussa "they are nor ready for a solution now ... and therefore he decided to leave."
As a result, the daily said it expected parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a member of the Hezbollah-led opposition, to postpone a parliament vote which was scheduled on Monday until March 3.
Late Friday the majority issued a statement accusing the opposition of "making new conditions, including on the make-up of the future government and who should head it" to block Moussa's mediation bid.
Hopes emerged of a breakthrough in Lebanon's prolonged presidential crisis after Moussa delayed his planned departure from Beirut to hold further talks with rival leaders.
However, distrust between the anti-Syrian ruling party and Hezbollah-led opposition is increasing after a 15-month-old political crisis, the worst since the 1975-90 civil war. |
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No confidence Moussa brokered a meeting on Friday Saad al-Hariri and Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun, in the first talks between the rival factions since mid-January.
Moussa said there was "no confidence" between the rival sides and urged the leaders to tone down their rhetoric.
The leaders discussed an Arab states' initiative to end the crisis which has deepened divisions between followers of rival sectarian leaders, paralyzed government and left Lebanon without a president since November.
Amin Gemayel, a ruling coalition Christian leader, was also present at the four-hour roundtable talks in downtown Beirut's parliament building.
"There is room for agreement but there are also issues that need more discussion," Moussa told reporters after the meeting.
Moussa delayed his Friday departure after a meeting with Berri, indicating an agreement might be in the works.
The Arab plan calls for the election of army commander General Michel Suleiman as president, the formation of a national unity government and the drafting of a new law for a parliamentary election due next year.
The opposition, backed by Syria and Iran, wants an equal, three-way division of seats in the new cabinet -- between themselves, the ruling coalition and ministers chosen by the president -- or veto power for the opposition.
Both demands are rejected by the ruling coalition, which is backed by the United States, France and Saudi Arabia.
Tensions have been exacerbated by the killing of seven Shiite Muslim protesters who support Hezbollah and Shiite ally, Amal. Three officers and eight soldiers have been arrested over the Jan. 27 killings. |
