On the meeting between President al-Assad and Hariri, Junblat
Lebanon-Syria, Politics, 5/24/2001

The Lebanese daily al-Nahar issued on Wednesday said in a message from Damascus that the Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri came out of the meeting with President Bashar al-Assad very pleased with the results of the meeting, according to sources close to al-Hariri.

Well-informed sources stressed to the paper the need of eliminating differences, considering that the situation in the region requires returning back to re-arranging priorities as well as to withstand the Israeli threats against Syria and Lebanon.

On the meeting between President Bashar al-Assad and the chairman of the Lebanese progressive party Walid Junblat, Syrian sources told the paper that there is no way to discuss the Syrian- Lebanese relations, only after alleviating the dangers in light of the current regional condition which threatens several Arab sides.

In a statement to al-Nahar al-Hariri said his meeting with President Bashar al-Assad was good, rather " excellent."

For his part, the Lebanese minister of information Ghazi al-Areidi described the meeting between President Bashar and Junblat as excellent. He told al-Nahar that discussions dealt issues on internal and external levels and in particular on the regional aspect and that details on the previous phase were not discussed. al-Hariri arrived back in Beirut at 9.15 p.m. ( Lebanon's local time). Junblat visited him and an evaluation was made for the results of the two visits.

Meantime, sources close to the Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri told the London Ð based al-Sharq al-Awsat daily issued on Wednesday that the meeting between President al-Assad and al-Hariri, which lasted for two hours in Damascus on Tuesday was positive during which deep discussions were held on several issues.

These sources expressed to the al-Sharq al-Awsat great satisfaction over the results of this meeting, noting that this visit falls in the course of the Syrian- Lebanese consultation, especially in the current conditions the region surpasses.

The circles noted that the current Syrian- Lebanese contacts is of special importance as they coincide with Arab and international contacts aiming at containing the deterioration resulting from the practices of the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon.

The same sources noted that al-Hariri's talks in Damascus dealt with proposals of the European official Javier Solana, proposals which coincided with the moves of the US administration, through assigning its ambassador in Amman to coordinate the negotiations in the region.

The same sources also considered that the coming of al-Hariri and Junblat to Damascus reflects Syria's care to strengthen its relations with Lebanon.

Previous Stories:
  Al-Assad confers with Hariri, Junblat   (5/23/2001)
  Al-Assad to meet with Junblat   (5/21/2001)
  Lebanese President confers with Syrian FM   (5/19/2001)

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