AL Chief Calls for More Efforts to Save Lebanon

AL chief calls for more efforts to save Lebanon

CAIRO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa has urged all parties concerned to exert utmost effortsfor finding a solution to the ongoing Lebanese crisis, the Egyptian official MENA news agency reported on Tuesday.

Moussa believes the bombing attack on Tuesday that killed at least three and wounded more than 20 others in Beirut rings alarm bells, said MENA.

“It is a proof of how serious the situation in Lebanon is,” theAL chief was quoted as saying.

Moussa, who will on Jan. 16 leave for Lebanon the second time in less than a week, called on all parties to support Lebanon and save it from any dire consequences that may result.

On Jan. 12, Moussa left Beirut after a four-day-long marathon talks with Lebanon’s rival factions failed to install an Arab initiative aimed at ending the ongoing presidential crisis.

The three-point Arab plan, which was approved at an Arab foreign ministers’ meeting earlier this month, aimed at immediately electing Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman as Lebanese president, proceeding to forming a national unity government and drafting a new electoral law.

Earlier on Tuesday, an U.S. embassy vehicle was involved in theexplosion in the Karantina district of Beirut around 4:30 p.m. (1430 GMT), killing at least three persons and wounded more than 20others.

Having been rocked by a series of bombing attacks in the past three years, Lebanon is currently facing its most serious political crisis since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

For the first time in its history, the presidential seat has been void for more than 50 days since Nov. 24 when former President Emile Lahoud stepped down and the sharply divided Lebanese parliament has delayed the elections for 12 times withouta consensus.

(c) 2008 Xinhua News Agency – CEIS. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.