Beirut (AsiaNews) – Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa warned that “Lebanon will burn” if one party wins in the power struggle between Prime Minister Fuad Siniora's government and the Hezbollah-led opposition.
Moussa's comments came as Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, visiting Washington, said he was “seeking assistance” in opposing Syrian influence in Lebanon. Mr Jumblatt belongs to the ruling coalition.
For its part, Hezbollah’s announced that it would "definitely respond" to any Israeli strike in Lebanon.
Moussa has been trying to mediate the Lebanese crisis on the principle of “no victor or vanquished.” In a press briefing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, he said “there should be no winner, and for a long time the Lebanese have lived in such a situation."
“Sectarian violence is the biggest threat of all that faces us," he told reporters. “We cannot afford it.”
In Washington Jumblatt met with US President George W. Bush yesterday and is scheduled to meet Vice President Dick Cheney and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later.
“It is not a secret. Yes I am seeking assistance,” he said. “I need more assistance politically and militarily against indirect Syrian occupation.”