Compromise is the need of the hour

February .22. 2008


Compromise is the need of the hour

REPORTS of intra-Arab differences over Lebanon ahead of next month's Arab summit are disturbing. The summit, to be held in Damascus, is deemed crucial to almost every Arab and Middle Eastern issue at this juncture in time. The Arab World faces the task of taking and implementing tough decisions on the worsening situations in Palestine and Iraq — notwithstanding US claims of stability there — as well as the seeming intractable problems in Somalia and elsewhere in the Arab region.
The Arabs could not afford to be bogged down now. They need to act collectively and the ground for action has to be set at the next Arab summit.
The key point of dispute is Lebanon, where fears are growing that violence could break out any time between the government forces and the fighters of the Hizbollah-led opposition. Twice in the last one month, they came to blows but stepped off from the brink at the last minute.
The Arab initiative to elect a consensus president in Lebanon, which has been left without a head of state since November amid the deadlock between the government and opposition, remains stalled over the two side's failure to agree on a revampled government structure.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal was referring to these differences when he called on "all those with influence to help with the success of the Arab initiative" for Lebanon and warned that the country is "on the verge of civil war."
There is a growing sense of uneasiness in Lebanon. Governments have warned their citizens there to be extra careful, with the US issuing a high-alert travel advisory. France has closed two of its cultural centres outside the capital. Kuwait has advised its citizens against travelling to Lebanon shortly after its embassy in Beirut was evacuated following a reported threat of a bomb attack. Saudi Arabia has also advised its citizens against travelling to Lebanon.
Obviously, the rising tension in Lebanon against the backdrop of the political deadlock is the direct result of the failure of the Arab initiative to solve the problem. That is turn is now threatening collective action to be launched at the Damascuc summit on the host of challenges facing the members of the Arab League. A way has to be found urgently to lift the logjam in order to ensure that the summit is held and it takes the right decisions of all the outstanding issues, whether in Palestine, Iraq or elsewhere. And that puts the onus on the political leaders of Lebanon who should uphold Lebanese interests and stay away from being influenced by narrow considerations. Everyone will have accept that they will have to make compromises in order to avert a catastrophe befalling Lebanon and that would have far-reaching implications for the region as a whole.