BEIRUT – Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it would stop its mediation efforts in Lebanon between the Shiite group Hezbollah and Sunni premier Saad Al-Hariri over the assassination of his father by Hezbollah members and warned that the country’s future was at stake.
Saudi Arabia and Syria worked for months to resolve a dispute between Hezbollah and Hariri over indictments in the 2005 killing of former premier Rafik Al-Hariri, the builder of modern Lebanon. The indictments are widely expected to be against Hezbollah members.
Saudi foreign minister prince Saud A-Faisal said the kingdom abandoned its efforts and described the situation in the Lebanese arena as “dangerous.”
“If the situation reaches separation or partition of Lebanon, this means the end of Lebanon as a state that has this model of peaceful cohabitation between religions and ethnicities and different groups,” he told Al-Arabiya TV.
“It would be a loss for the whole Arab nation.”
Despite the declared withdrawal of Saudi Arabia, a powerful regional player and close supporter of Hariri, other countries were continuing efforts to find a compromise.
Political analysts however say no compromise or breakthrough could happen without backing from Saudi Arabia, a close US ally.
Ministers from Qatar and Turkey were holding a second day of talks in Beirut after meeting Hariri and Hezbollah head Hasan Nasrallah on Tuesday.
“Saudi Arabia is saying ‘it is not part of the negotiation process lead by Turkey and Qatar,’” Okab Sakr, a lawmaker close to Hariri told Reuters. “Because its efforts collided with obstacles inside Lebanon. So they are saying let the Turkish and the Qataris do what they can and it supports any efforts aimed at protecting Lebanon.”
Turkey, fast emerging as a regional force with links to the Europeans, Americans and even the Israelis, may play a neutral, moderating role alongside Qatar, a wealthy gas-exporting Gulf state.
Hezbollah-affiliated ministers and their allies brought down Hariri’s government last week, saying his rejection of their demands to cut Lebanon’s links to the UN-backed tribunal which issued the indictment on Monday thwarted the Saudi and Syrian efforts.
Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, denies responsibility for the 2005 killing and vows it will not allow any of its members to be handed over to the tribunal.
SECURITY, ECONOMY WORRIES
Hezbollah and its allies said they would treat the political deadlock differently once the indictment was released, pointing they would take a tougher stance after it was issued.
Fears that Hezbollah might repeat the security chaos that happened in May 2008, when its militia men took over parts of West Beirut, were raised on Tuesday by the deployment of black-clad men across the capital.
