Lebanon plays down Saudi mediation with Syria

The Lebanese government has played down the importance of the Saudi Arabian mediation between Syria and Lebanon in order to remove the tension that resulted from the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri.

Lebanon's prime minister Fouad Siniora said that there is no existence for "a Saudi paper (proposal)" in order to ease down the crisis between Beirut and Damascus, rather there are "Syrian thoughts" that have been conveyed by Riyadh "but they do not meet the Lebanese ambitions."

He added that the matter pertains to "Syrian thoughts, which are the same discussed as before, and many of them were amended regarding the issue of border demarcation and diplomatic relations on the ground of formulas to be agreed by the two sides."

Siniora, who was answering questions put by journalists after his meeting with the Lebanese President Emil Lahoud, called for steps, the most important of which relate to the security issue. He demanded the halting of what he called "the machine of killing," in remarks to the assassination operations against Lebanese figures which Syria was accused of standing behind.