Lebanese speaker wants Arab mediation with Syria

CAIRO: Lebanon s pro-Syrian parliament speaker Nabih Berri on Saturday asked President Hosni Mubarak for Arab help in defusing the simmering crisis between Beirut and its former powerbroker Syria. The aim of my visit to Cairo is to seek an Arab mediation that would ensure the implementation of decisions reached during Lebanon s protracted national dialogue , Berri told reporters after meeting Mubarak. At Berri s initiative, Christian and Muslim Lebanese politicians, pro- and anti-Syrian, have been holding roundtable talks since March in a bid to break a political deadlock since the February 2005 assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri. Berri said he had received a very positive response from Mubarak and informed the Egyptian president of the latest developments in Lebanon s rocky political consultations. Lebanese officials have frequently visited Egypt in the past year and Berri was also expected to meet Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa. Hariri s killing was widely blamed on the regime in Damascus, which dominated Lebanese politics for three decades. The ensuing crisis led to last year s withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanese soil, but anti-Syrian parties charge that Damascus is still interfering behind the scenes and continues to destabilize Lebanon. Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz was expected to deliver his report on Hariri s assassination to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Saturday. AFP