CAIRO, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Syria is seeking Arab support to confront possible U.N. sanctions over presumed involvement of its officials in the killing of an ex-Lebanese prime minister.
Cairo-based Arab diplomats said Monday the Syrian government is screening main Arab countries about holding an emergency Arab summit to extend support to Damascus in the confrontation that would be triggered if the Security Council approves economic sanctions.
The diplomats said Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Sharaa discussed with Arab League Secretary General Amr Mousa the possibility of holding the summit next week, after Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
Mousa started high-level consultations about the Syrian request with the current Arab summit president, Algeria, and key countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Diplomats played down the possibility of holding an emergency summit at present, as several Arab leaders prefer not to provoke the U.S. by displaying support for Syria.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt have already advised the Syrian leadership to show full cooperation with the U.N. investigation that has identified high-ranking security officials as suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Syrian President Bashar Assad dispatched deputy foreign minister Waleed Muallem to Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf countries to solicit their backing in the current crisis.
Led by British, French and U.S. diplomats, the council worked Sunday on drafting the resolution, which threatens Syria with economic penalties if it does not give full cooperation to the U.N. investigation.
Among suspects named by the U.N. inquiry are President Assad's brother, Maher Assad, and his brother-in-law, Asef Shawkat, the chief of military intelligence, who is considered the most powerful man in the country aside from the president.
