BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 5 (UPI) -- Lebanese officials are optimistic that the political crisis which has virtually paralyzed the country is close to being resolved.
Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud said Monday he hoped that Saudi King Abdullah's efforts in helping resolve his country's crisis would succeed before the Arab summit is held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, later this month.
Optimism to end the standoff between the pro-Western government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and the Iran-backed Hezbollah-led opposition swept political circles after a meeting between the Saudi monarch and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad over the weekend in Riyadh, during which they discussed easing the tension in Lebanon.
According to a statement, Lahoud told the Saudi ambassador Monday that such meetings provide a "chance to ease the tension and raise the level of optimism in reaching the aspired solutions."
The opposition, staging a sit-in since December outside the prime ministry, has been seeking a new national unity government that includes larger opposition participation.
Saudi Arabia's ambassador in Beirut, Abdul Aziz Khojah, told reporters after seeing the president he is "confident there are positive atmospheres and all parties are seeking an appropriate solution," adding there will be a solution to the crisis soon.
Meanwhile, acting Foreign and Culture Minister Tarek Mitri told reporters Monday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after talks with President Hosni Mubarak the Lebanese "stand before an opportunity for progress to resolve the political crisis."
He said the Arabs, as well as the vast majority of Lebanese, have a genuine desire to resolve the crisis. "Since this atmosphere and circumstances are appropriate, then they give us a real opportunity" to end the standoff.
