By DPA
Beirut : Arab League chief Amr Mussa arrived in Beirut Wednesday to provide guarantees regarding a proposed Arab plan to assist rival Lebanese factions in resolving the country’s political crisis.
“I hope we will achieve progress,” Mussa said upon arrival at Beirut International Airport, where he was greeted by Lebanese Foreign Ministry officials.
With Western and Arab support, Mussa’s main task in Beirut will be to gain the approval of all sides for the three-stage Arab League proposal to hold a vote to fill the Lebanese presidency, vacant since Nov 24.
Last Saturday, Arab foreign ministers agreed in Cairo on a plan that would see Lebanese army chief General Michel Suleiman elected as president, a national unity government formed and a new electoral law adopted.
Lebanon’s political crisis started in November 2006, when six pro-Syrian ministers quit the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Seniora.
Lebanon has been without a president since Nov 23 when the mandate of pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud ended, and divisions between the Western-backed ruling majority and the opposition, backed by Syria and Iran, has deepened, raising fears that the country might be heading towards a new civil war.
A vote in the Lebanese parliament to elect a new head of state has been postponed 11 times, and the legislature is due to meet on January 12 for a new attempt.