Egyptian efforts to defuse the Syrian crisis in Lebanon
Egypt-Lebanon, Politics, 2/24/2005

Egypt has started efforts with Syria to help it in dealing with the increasing pressures imposed on it by the USA and Europe after the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri.

After President Hosni Mubarak dispatched on Wednesday the chairman of the intelligence Lt. gen. Omar Suleiman as his own personal envoy to meet with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Mubarak said on Wednesday in Sharm al-Sheikh that he talked on Tuesday on the telephone with the Syrian president and discussed him with the matter, considering that Syria "can not stand alone against the pressures made from the international community as a whole."

Mubarak stressed that "Syria was about to redeploy its forces in Lebanon and that the Syrian President promised me to that after we had met in Sharm al-Sheikh recently and I do believe he intends to do so." Mubarak called on the Lebanese people to have a united stand before joining negotiations with Syria concerning its withdrawal from Lebanon.

This came at a time when the US president George W. Bush on Wednesday called on Syria to withdraw its military sources and intelligence from Lebanon.

Bush stressed in a press conference following his talks with the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that Washington is waiting for how Syria will respond before seeking at the UN to impose sanctions.

This was expressed after the US Department O State announced that it will delegate the US under secretary of state for the Middle East affairs David Satterfield shortly to Lebanon in order to discuss later developments concerning the assassination of Rafic Hariri.

Previous Stories:
  Mubarak meets Hariri: Amending the constitution is a Lebanese question   (9/9/2004)
  Hariri holds talks in Egypt   (9/8/2004)
  Maher, Obeid joint press conference in Cairo   (2/24/2004)

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