Saudis Reportedly Urging Hariri to Accept Compromise with Hizbullah
Saudi Arabia is putting more pressure on Prime Minister Saad Hariri to reject the Special Tribunal for Lebanon investigating the 2005 assassination of his father ex-PM, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on its website.
In return, it said, Hizbullah would guarantee Hariri that it would not harm him. Hizbullah would also avoid any overt military activities and Hariri would be allowed to maintain his own security apparatus.
The Saudis, Haaretz quoted sources as saying, considered the Hariri family's patrons, have stepped up pressure on Hariri to convince him to accept the "compromise" planned by Saudi Arabia and Syria that aims to defuse Lebanon's political crisis.
They said that the fact that Saudi Arabia has joined Syria in pressuring Hariri suggests that the chances have increased significantly that the prime minister will accept the deal
For now, Hariri is refusing to decide, the sources said. Last week, Hariri denied a report in the daily Ad-Diyar that he had agreed to abandon the STL "for Lebanon's interests."
Hariri was in New York for talks with Saudi King Abdullah. Haaretz said the Saudi-Syrian mediation efforts were put on hold because of the king's trip to the United States for emergency surgery. But now that the king is recovering, pressure has resumed on Hariri.
Haaretz has learned that the proposed compromise involves Hariri relinquishing the demand that the STL investigate his father's assassination. He would have to make a statement in which he expresses his rejection of the tribunal's work.
Hariri, according to the report, would apparently be supported by Hizbullah in efforts to disarm Palestinian groups operating outside the refugee camps in the country, even though their numbers are minor compared to those inside the camps. Such a move would be interpreted as another reassertion of Lebanese sovereignty in line with the Taif Agreement of 1989.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://mobile.naharnet.com/stories/en/1732 |