Khalil Fleihan
Daily Star correspondent

US envoy William Burns is due to arrive in Beirut on Tuesday night as part of a tour intended to revive the Middle East peace process by drawing up
a comprehensive strategy to resolve the crisis between the Palestinians and the Israelis, informed sources said Monday.
The assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs will be meeting with the country’s three top leaders as well as Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud during his one-day stay, his third visit to Beirut since assuming his current responsibilities.
According to the sources, Lebanon has not been formally advised of the nature of the proposals carried by Burns in respect to convening an international conference, the framework of which is still vague.
Confusion also shrouds the US position concerning the parties to be invited to such a gathering and whether Lebanon and Syria will be among the participants. It is also still unclear whether Washington is contemplating confining the conference to putting an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Burns’ tour coincides with a similar effort by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the arrival in the region of CIA Director George Tenet.
Quoting diplomats, the sources said Solana had expressed support for inviting Lebanon and Syria to the conference during his talks in Beirut Friday.
In Amman, Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher told Burns Monday that a timetable for Middle East negotiations was necessary before a conference was to convene this summer, stressing the importance of focusing on
the political track to solve the current crisis.
He also reiterated that all actions to solve the conflict must be based on United Nations resolutions and the Arab peace plan adopted in Beirut in March.
The sources indicated that Lebanon would convey a similar stand to Burns and assert the need for participating in any international gathering of the sort because it was concerned with any negotiations taking place, especially in view of the 375,000 Palestinian refugees it hosts.
Lebanon would also stress the importance of convening the contemplated conference as soon as possible and refraining from following the unsuccessful policy of solving the conflict in stages, as was the case for the 1993 Oslo Accords, the sources said.

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