By NNN-KUNA
Cairo : Arab foreign ministers have reiterated consensus over an Arab initiative aiming to resolve the Lebanese standoff.
Wrapping up their meeting on Lebanon here Sunday, the ministers, in a news release, expressed serious concern over the continued assassination of Lebanese figures, and terrorist bombings in Lebanon.
They also condemned the recent incidents in Lebanon, including a car bombing that left a Lebanese police officer and several innocent people dead, as a scheme aimed at destabilising the country.
They urged all Lebanese parties involved to work together to spare their country of further tensions, and to abide by law and order.
However, they hailed efforts exerted by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa to settle the thorny issue of Lebanon.
The Arab foreign ministers called for the election of Lebanese army chief Gen Michel Suleiman as a new president of the republic on Feb 11, for reaching an agreement on a national unity government, and for passing a fresh parliamentary law.
The ministers met here for the second time this month to try to break the deadlock which has left Lebanon without a president since November.
Seven people were killed in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, after a demonstration against power cuts descended into violence earlier Sunday. Shots were fired as the army intervened when protesters tried to block a road.
An activist from the opposition Shia Amal movement was killed, triggering violent protests in which six more people were killed, reports say.
Sporadic gunfire was heard as the fighting spread and Beirut’s airport road was temporarily blocked by tyres.
It followed a massive bomb blast on Friday which killed a senior Lebanese intelligence officer and three others in the east of the capital.
The latest deaths come at a time of acute political instability in Lebanon as deadlock between both governmental and opposition camps drags on.