By Xinhua
Beirut : Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora has said that he is willing to visit Damascus and participate in the upcoming Arab summit “if all circumstances were convenient,” local As-Safir daily reported Saturday.
“The visit, (however) does not mean any change in our convictions,” Seniora was quoted as noting on Friday.
The ruling coalition has accused Syria of being behind the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri on Feb. 14, 2005.Seniora said that as a Arab League member, Lebanon will be naturally invited to the upcoming Arab summit scheduled for March 29-30 in Damascus.
Invitations to Arab summit are usually addressed to heads of states. But in the case of Lebanon, which has been without a president since former president Emil Lahoud ended his term on Nov. 24, 2007, with the presidential election being postponed for 15 times, things can be different.
Seniora has taken the prerogatives of the president temporarily in accordance with the Taief accord endorsed in Saudi Arabia in 1989, ending 15 years of civil war in the country.
However, Syria does not acknowledge the government of Seniora as “legitimate”. The invitation did not come to Lebanon till now, with the meeting three weeks away.
Amid sharp differences among rival Lebanese political leaders, an Arab initiative endorsed by the Arab League in Cairo on Jan. 6has not yet been able to remove obstacle hindering the presidential elections.
If things work out smoothly, Lebanon is to hold its presidential election session on March 11, the date set after 15postponements.