Unilateral withdrawal from South Lebanon won't corner Syria

In pre-departure statements, Presidential Political Advisor Osama Al-Baz said he would deliver a lecture at the Strategic Studies Institute in the Algerian capital on the Arab world and the challenges it faces in this stage.

Baz will also meet, on the fringe of the visit, with a number of Algerian senior officials to discuss various developments on the Arab arena.

He warned Israel against miscalculating the situation in the event of its unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon. "Israel is making a big mistake if it thinks that its unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon will corner Syria," Baz maintained.

"Egypt, France and the US are not of the opinion that Syria be cornered and nor its negotiation position weakened," said Baz .

Baz described Egyptian-Syrian relations as strong and that both President Mubarak and his Syrian counterpart Hafez Al-Assad are bound together by long-standing relations since the two leaders fought together during the 1973 October War.

Baz did not rule out the possibility of an Egyptian-Syrian summit within the coming few months.