Lebanonwire.com | Lebanese PM on fence-mending trip to Syria

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July 31, 2005

Lebanese PM on fence-mending trip to Syria
by Nassib Azar

DAMASCUS - Lebanon's new Prime Minister Fuad Siniora was in Damascus on Sunday for talks with President Bashar al-Assad on his first official trip abroad to try to repair ties with former power broker Syria.

Relations have deteriorated sharply since Damascus ended its three-decade military presence in Lebanon in April and anti-Syrian parties won a parliamentary majority in elections in May and June.

On his drive into Damascus, Siniora could see thousands of trucks lining the route, blocked at the border by Syrian authorities, reporters said, evidence of a major blow to trade in the escalating cross-border dispute.

Siniora's trip comes just a day after his government, the first of the post-Syrian era, won parliamentary approval, drawing a line under a tortuous process that led to the formation of his cabinet.

Siniora was holding talks with his Syrian counterpart Mohammad Naji Otri and was due also to meet Assad.

"Fuad Siniora will discuss all matters with Syria during his visit," Nasri Khuri, head of the Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council, told reporters.

Siniora has called for "healthy, privileged and solid relations" with Syria, which has dominated Lebanese life since the 1975-1990 civil war.

"I want to come back with a new way of dealing between Lebanon and Syria, a new thinking, that we should co-operate and create an attitude of openness between the two countries," he said in an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday.

"The attitude has to be based on mutual interest and respect."

The Lebanese press was cautiously optimistic of a fruitful meeting.

"Last-chance visit and contradictory expectations," ran the front-page headline of the leading An-Nahar, adding that "maintaining the crisis is in the interest of no one."

Siniora, 62, is a former finance minister and close ally of former predecessor Rafiq Hariri, killed in a massive bomb blast in Beirut in February widely blamed on Syria and its allies in Lebanon.

In Saturday's confidence vote, lawmakers in the 128-member parliament backed his government by 92 votes to 14 with two abstentions.

Still, An-Nahar questioned whether "this strong majority will be enough to assure the success of his task in Damascus, or if the crisis between the two countries is linked to external factors that make it difficult to predict success for the visit, particularly in light of foreboding Syrian media reports."

The Syrian government daily Tishrin said Damascus would pass on "requests from families" of 795 Syrians reported missing in Lebanon, a matter that was never officially discussed between the two in the past.

Damascus has demanded compensation from Beirut for workers it says were targeted in Lebanon, alleging that some of its 300,000 workers were attacked and forced to flee after Hariri was killed.

Tishrin had on Saturday called Siniora's visit "mission impossible" and predicted it would be a "failure."

Syria's pullout three months ago was sparked by intense international pressure in the wake of Hariri's killing.

In June, an anti-Syrian Lebanese politician and journalist were killed in separate bomb blasts in Lebanon, leading the Lebanese opposition to again point the finger at Damascus for their deaths. Syria has denied any involvement.

Syria then reinforced border security controls with reports that weapons and people were crossing the frontier illegally.

Siniora's government line-uptook weeks of talks and stinging political rows to form. His cabinet includes a minister from Hezbollah, which Washington still regards as a terrorist organization.

Siniora presented a series of reforms to parliament on Thursday, pledging a programme to focus on national reconciliation and democracy.

Subsequent parliamentary debate centred on loosening Syria's clampdown on Lebanese cross-border trade and the future of Hezbollah which the United Nations has called on to disarm.