SHARM EL-SHEIKH, 24 March 2006 — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held talks with leaders from Syria and Lebanon yesterday in what a presidential source said was an effort to repair strained relations between the two neighbors.
Mubarak, who has long played a mediating role in the Middle East conflict, met separately in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and Syrian Vice President Faruq Al-Shara.
The talks with Siniora covered the tensions between Lebanon and its former broker Syria and the UN probe into the 2005 murder of former premier Rafik Hariri as well as talks in Beirut aimed at ending a long-running political deadlock, the presidential source said.
In the later meeting with Shara, the two men discussed the international pressure on Syria over its alleged role in the Hariri assassination and relations with Beirut, the source said.
However, Syria’s official SANA news agency said Shara had wanted to discuss with Mubarak the agenda for next week’s Arab League summit in Khartoum and bilateral issues and that his talks in Egypt were in no way linked to Siniora’s visit.
Shara and Siniora did not meet during their brief visit to Egypt.
In comments to reporters later, Shara described his meeting with Mubarak as “positive and very constructive,” saying “President Mubarak briefed me on the outcome of his discussions” with Siniora.
Asked if Syrian and Lebanese leaders would meet on the sidelines of the Khartoum summit, Shara responded “it would depend on who represents Lebanon at the summit.”
Two UN reports have suggested top-level Syrian involvement in the Hariri assassination, which plunged Lebanon into political turmoil and triggered a wave of domestic and international pressure which forced Damascus to pull out its troops from its smaller neighbor in April last year.
Lebanon however remains in deep political crisis, with roundtable talks underway aimed at breaking a deadlock over the disarming of Hezbollah and the fate of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.
