Failure to find a resolution to the current crisis in Lebanon may obstruct progress at next month's Arab summit in Damascus, writes Doaa El-Bey Diplomatic efforts are now in full swing to help the Lebanese parties agree on a new president for the country, with the issue being seen as likely to impede progress at the forthcoming Arab summit due to be held in the Syrian capital Damascus in the last week of March. Egypt received an invitation from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallim to attend the summit earlier this month, which was accepted by President Hosni Mubarak who did not specify the level of representation Egypt would accord the meeting. However, the Egyptian president warned of what he called the dangerous repercussions the Lebanese crisis could have on the summit, and it is widely believed that if positive steps are not taken towards choosing a Lebanese president, some Arab heads of state, including President Mubarak, will not attend the Damascus summit. Some may dispatch a high-level delegation, while others may not attend at all, in an attempt to press Syria, which has influence over the Lebanese opposition, to push the opposition into exercising flexibility that could help to lead to a resolution of the current stalemate in Lebanon. According to Ahmed Youssef, a political science professor at Cairo University, the success of the summit will be measured by the level of representation accorded to it by Arab leaders. There are also issues that can only be treated effectively if all Arab leaders attend. "However, it is clear that some countries, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, are not happy with Syrian policies, and they are trying to use attendance at the Damascus summit as a way of pressing Syria to change its policies or to help in resolving the Lebanese crisis," Youssef said. Earlier this week, the Lebanese issue also topped the agenda of a meeting between President Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. During the meeting, the two leaders called on the Lebanese parties to work together towards agreeing on a president, articulating their support for a common Arab initiative. Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad said after the meeting that Egypt had called on all the parties, including the Arab League and Syria, to unite their efforts to produce the best possible set of circumstances for the forthcoming Damascus meeting. All the parties were looking forward to the summit, he said, and he could not imagine such a meeting taking place in the absence of Lebanon. Meanwhile, the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, will visit Syria next week in order to hold talks with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad about the situation in Iraq and Lebanon and ways to promote the success of the Damascus meeting. However, despite these diplomatic efforts, recent developments in Lebanon itself have placed more obstacles in front of the success of the summit. While the Lebanese majority and opposition parties at first seemed to agree on Army Chief General Michel Suleiman as candidate for the presidency, this consensus has now disappeared. According to Youssef, the change is due to influence on the parties from abroad. "The interests of the foreign powers are not yet decided, and this explains the shifting stands of both the majority and the opposition," he said. The assassination of Hizbullah leader Imad Mughniyah in Damascus last week has also raised questions about security in Syria ahead of the summit, with the assassination providing a pretext for some of those who do not wish to attend. For Youssef, such concerns are unjustified, since Syria will take all the necessary measures to guarantee the security of the leaders attending the summit. The next session of the Lebanese parliament given over to the choice of a new president for the country will take place on 26 February. The failure of the different parties to elect Michel Suleiman, or to agree on another candidate, will deepen Arab differences and have serious repercussions on the success of next month's summit meeting in Damascus.
