Syria Today | Damascus announces support for Lebanese Doha agreement

Damascus announces support for Lebanese Doha agreement

The Syrian Government has expressed its support for the agreement reached between Lebanon’s rivaling political factions in Doha on May 21.

Talks led by the Arab Ministerial Committee (AMC) took place in Qatar between members of the Western-backed government of Lebanon and the pro-Syrian Hezbollah-led opposition after fighting broke out between armed supporters of the two sides at the beginning of May.

“Syria supports the AMC’s efforts to try to reach an agreement among the different Lebanese parties in Doha,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mu’allem said on May 16.

The agreement reached on May 21 brought an end to Lebanon’s 18-month long political stalemate. It gives the opposition the power of veto in a new cabinet of national unity and entails the establishment of a new electoral law. It also paved the way for General Michel Suleiman to be elected as the country’s new president on May 25 – a post which had been left vacant since pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud left office in November 2007.

Mu’allem told Reuters news agency that Damascus was “pleased that our brothers in Lebanon have reached an agreement”.

Fighting broke out in Beirut at the beginning of May after the government attempted to outlaw Hezbollah’s private telephone network and sacked Beirut Airport Security Chief Brigadier General Wafiq Shoukair. Armed clashes left 65 people dead amid the worst violence the country has witnessed since the 1975–1990 civil war.

During a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on May 26 in Damascus, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa emphasised the important role Syria had played in helping the Lebanese to reach an agreement at Doha. “There have been numerous and continuous consultations with Syria during the last four days and the last twenty months,” he said. “The Syrian role was important and decisive at this level.”