Assad Expected In Riyadh For Talks On Lebanon

"Syrian President Bashar Assad is to arrive in Saudi Arabia Thursday to discuss a Saudi-Egyptian proposal for a timeline for a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon."
 
"Meanwhile, Kuwaiti newspaper reports Thursday say that Assad is to convene his Baath party leadership in the coming days, and announce a full Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon within three months."
 
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Syria Told to Pull Out Of Lebanon
 
"EGYPT AND SAUDI Arabia have stepped in to persuade Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and avoid a showdown with the world, Arab diplomats say, while a few hundred activists in Beirut on Wednesday kept going with anti-Syrian demonstrations that toppled Lebanon's government."
"Lebanon's staunchly pro-Syrian president, Emile Lahoud, began the search for a new prime minister to replace Omar Karameh, meeting with the speaker of parliament amid opposition pressure to ensure the new government is not dominated by Damascus".

"Lebanon's worst political crisis in years has increasingly isolated Syria, with even its traditional ally Russia joining the United States, France and the United Nations in calling on Damascus to pull its 15,000 troops out of its neighbour, where it has wielded power for more than a decade".

"The mediation by Egypt and Saudi Arabia aims "to save Syria from a serious conflict that will pitch it against the whole world," said one Arab diplomat in Cairo. The diplomats said the two Arab powerhouses are trying to win Syrian acceptance of a timetable for a complete withdrawal by April. The Arab mediation calls for Damascus to announce a withdrawal timetable "as soon as possible," another diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity."

"The initiative is expected to be raised during a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo late Wednesday ahead of an official meeting the next day to prepare for an Arab summit in Algeria in March".

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