By NNN-KUNA,
Beirut : Both sides of Lebanon’s political divide pledged Thursday to refrain from use of force to settle their disputes, Chief of the Arab Ministerial Committee and Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin-Jassim Bin-Jabr Al-Thani announced here.
“This is part of the accord mediated by committee during its two-day mission in Lebanon,” Sheikh Hamad reaffirmed in statements to the press after reading the text of the accord.
Meanwhile, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said the accord was a very significant step towards resumption of dialogue among the Lebanese warring parties.
“The Arab League can play an effective role and reach the desired goals which it taps its abundant resources,” Moussa affirmed.
Leaders of the Lebanese political parties will head to Doha, capital of Qatar on Friday to finalize the details related to the implementation of Thursday accord, he added, voicing hope that they would reach agreement on electing army chief Gen. Michel Suleiman as a new head of state in the coming few days.
Meanwhile, the United States on Thursday seemed not enthusiastic about the deal brokered by the Arab League to resolve the unfolding crisis in Lebanon.
“You are not going to resolve Lebanons myriad difficulties and idiosyncrasies of its political system in the course of a week or in one set of discussions”, said State Department Sean McCormack in WASHINGTON.
“It is going to be a continuing challenge for those in the international system who have an interest in a more peaceful, prosperous and democratic Lebanon”, he added.
“I will leave it to those directly involved in such discussions to comment about the details of any deal that has been agreed to”, said McCormack.
But he made sure to extend support for Arab League members whose Washington are in close contact with saying that they “are going to be strong advocates on behalf of this Lebanese government, which is one that stands for the Lebanese people”.
The State Department reiterated the United States view on the role of Hizbullah in Lebanon, describing it” a long-standing problem”.
“Hizbullah continues to pose a challenge to the future of the Lebanese people, in terms of realizing a broad-based, deep democracy that benefits all of the Lebanese people”, said McCormack.
“We have seen over the past several days that Hizbullah is willing to kill Lebanese in the interest of their political agenda, which seems to have really no basis, other than to try to expand their political power, and operates outside the political system in Lebanon”, he added.
McCormack noted that Hezbollah is “very least largely influenced, at the other end of the spectrum controlled, by parties outside of Lebanon, Iran and Syria”.