By Hadi Khatib
Lebanonwire staff

In a clear indication that Lebanese can come to an agreement whenever orders are not imposed on them, participants at the dialogue arrived at an understanding regarding the Shebaa Farms, relations with Syria and Palestinian weapons outside the camps, but not before adjourning until next week with a clear message to President Emile Lahoud:”you’re next!”

A participating source at the dialogue told Daily An-Nahar that Tuesday’s accord among the leaders at the roundtable talks sent several messages.

“The first is to Lebanese saying we are no longer under any form of tutelage, the second to Arabs asking them to adopt and help in achieving the dialogue’s initiative, the third to Israel saying that Lebanon had not abandoned the resistance, the fourth to Syria in a form of extending an olive branch, the fifth to Lahoud telling him he’s next and lastly to the UN indicating Lebanon’s seriousness about implementing UN 1559.”

The daily said agreement on the Lebanese identity of the Shebaa Farms - a point of contention that threatened to abort the dialogue - was a historical achievement needing Syrian cooperation to produce documents enabling Lebanon to face the UN with a complete file.

The daily said Prime Minister Fouad Siniora will next head to Syria to expedite Lebanon’s request for documents verifying the Lebanese identity of the farms in addition to the Kfarshouba hills.

“I know what we agreed upon inside, but the Arabic Language is vast and subject to many interpretations, and I wish Siniora good luck on his visit to Syria,” Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat told reporters upon leaving the session.

Siniora also plans a visit to Brussels to present Lebanon’s reform agenda ahead of the “Beirut 1” donor conference and to seek support for the dialogue process from European leaders.

Participants also agreed over Palestinian arms and the need to remove the weapons outside the camps over a period of six months, while subjecting weapons inside the camps to the direct authority of the Lebanese government as per the Taif Accord.

Speaker Nabih Berri, who made the announcements, reiterated the participants’ consensus on the need to establish formal diplomatic relations with Syria, by exchanging ambassadors and “determining” the true borders between the two countries.

“We realize we have a crisis of governance and we will tackle this issue next week,” Berri said in a clear indication that Lahoud will be the center of attention in next Wednesday’s talks.

Daily Al-Hayat wrote today that the terminology used with regard to “determining” and not “remapping” the borders came as a result of deep negotiations and to ensure that Syria did not object to the former term since Syrian President Bashar Assad considered “remapping” an Israeli demand.

Lahoud who seems oblivious to the pressures around him to step down said in an interview with French daily “La Croix” that he believes (Free Patriotic Movement leader) Michel Aoun is the presidential candidate that enjoys the most popularity and acceptance among Lebanese, and that Aoun will receive his backing to succeed him “at the end of my mandate next year!”

Sources close to MP Saad Hariri’s Future Movement told An-Nahar “we are pleased with the progress made on the talks especially with the breakthrough on Syrian-Lebanese relations and the need to outline the location of the Shebaa farms, and we look forward to discussing Lahoud’s mechanisms for his departure next week, and he is leaving.”

Daily Ad-Diyar said in its editorial written by Publisher-In-Chief Charles Ayyoub that the March 14th alliance, by accepting the terms of the agreements, have thus reneged on earlier promises it made to the Lebanese people, including vows to “seek revenge” from Syria, “so how can the people trust them now?”

Presidential sources told the daily that Lahoud is rejoiced with the agreement to re-establish diplomatic relations with Syria, while ensuring that the sovereignty and independence of both countries need to be respected and not threatened.

“The president hopes participants reach another agreement on the resistance arms next week and the need to protect it and reaffirms his position that solving this issue would realign all parties on a national issue, away from the wrongful approach some parties have taken towards the presidency,” the sources said.

Al-Mustaqbal daily quoted Loyalty to the Resistance MP Mohammad Raad as saying “what concerns us is the agreement made about the (Shebaa) Farms with the understanding that the resistance can play an effective role in strategically protecting Lebanon from aggression, and we are very hopeful at reaching a concrete understanding on all issues.”

The daily also quoted Aoun as saying “just because we said we recognize a problem of governance at the executive level, it doesn’t necessarily mean the presidency.”

Al-Balad daily expects that the names of presidential candidates will be exchanged and negotiated extensively in the coming days leading to next week’s meet.

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