[12/May/2008]

SANA'A, May 12 (Saba) – The Arab League has decided to send a ministerial delegation to Lebanon in an attempt to find a solution to the worst crisis in the country in eighteen years, Foreign minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said on Monday.

The delegation is to be led by Qatar's prime minister sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jabr Al Thani and ministers from Qatar, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Algeria, Djibouti, Oman and Morocco.

The delegation, due in Lebanon within the day, will try to draw up an urgent roadmap that will prompt implementation of the Arab Initiative to end Lebanon's Presidential Crisis calling for electing the army chief Mishal Suleiman as president of Lebanon, forming a government of national unity and drafting a new election law.

Al-Qirbi affirmed the current meeting of the Arab Foreign ministers will have been held to follow up the latest developments in Lebanon and Sudan.

Recently the situation in Lebanon has worsened after Hezbollah militants took over the west Beirut the move which sparked clashes between the militants and the government forces.

In their last emergency meeting, the ministers denounced using weapons to achieve political ends saying this clashes with the Lebanese constitution. They stressed the importance of pulling back all the armed groups and resolving the current crisis in the way that reserves the rights of every faction to play its role in Lebanon's structure.

A communiqué released by the ministers welcomed the announcement of the military in relation to the two decisions that call for the military to control the airport security system and the communication network as well as taking the responsibility for protecting general security and easing tensions in Lebanon. Furthermore, the military will be responsible for securing the private institutions and to save the country.
FR