Khalil Fleihan
Daily Star correspondent

Foreign Minister Jean Obeid is due to commence on Dec. 8 his tour of Arab states that host Palestinian refugees and that might be affected by any decision to resettle these refugees.
The minister is expected to discuss with the officials of those states the Palestinian resettlement proposals that were recently put forward by a number of US congressmen and have already been discussed by EU MPs.
The Iraqi crisis, along with recent Israeli threats against both Lebanon and Syria, are also expected to be high on the agenda of the minister’s meetings.
Meanwhile, an informed diplomatic source said that the minister’s first stop would be in Egypt for a two-day visit on Dec. 8. Obeid will confer there with his counterpart Ahmed Maher and discuss “ways to combat Palestinian resettlement plans” in light of Egypt’s important international leverage, specifically with the United States.
The source underlined the common policies of Egypt and Lebanon. Both countries have the same position in opposing Palestinian resettlement, the importance of resuming peace talks between Israel and
the Palestinians and their readiness to stand up against any Israeli attack targeting Lebanon or Syria regardless of its pretext.
Cairo has already passed, on several occasions, the message to Tel Aviv about such readiness, the source said.
It added that Egypt enjoyed excellent relations with European countries, especially France, and that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak made it a point to continuously confer with his French counterpart President Jacques Chirac on issues related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The source said that discussions between the Lebanese and Egyptian ministers will also focus on bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to improve them, specifically at the economic and social levels.
Other stops on Obeid’s itinerary are expected to be announced as soon as they are planned by the Arab countries, the source said. It added that they include mainly Gulf states, specifically Saudi Arabia. The minister has already received an invitation from his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal to that effect.
The source said that similar tours would be undertaken to international capitals by parliamentary delegations. Such plans have already commenced with a parliamentary delegation’s visit to London two weeks ago. Another delegation is due to visit Brussels soon, the source added.