Amir of Qatar in Damascus today

News reports in Damascus said yesterday that the Amir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani will visit Damascus today and hold a meeting with President Bashar al-Assad on developments on the regional arena.

The reports indicated that this visit falls in the course of the current moves within the Arab confines to contain the implications of the killing of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri on each of Syria and Lebanon.

It is not disclosed whether the Amir of Qatar is carrying a certain message, especially due to his close relations with the US. Very often the visits of the Amir are mostly linked to mediation efforts between Damascus and Washington.

Earlier Sheikh Hamad said commenting on the resignation of the government of Omar Karami on Monday " I think that the Arab people praise the fact that the Lebanese people are able to bring down the government. Arab peoples also praise the government which accepted to be downed for serving the interests of the Lebanese people."

Sheikh Hamad added after his meeting with the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Qatar that Syria and Lebanon are two neighboring states and the situation in Lebanon is worrying and painful. He hoped "peace and calm for this country." Schroeder, for his part, called for the withdrawal of the Syrian forces from Lebanon, and simultaneously announced support for making an international investigation into the Hariri assassination.