Lebanonwire.com | Syria-bound Qatari emir hails Lebanese for bringing down government

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March 1, 2005

Syria-bound Qatari emir hails Lebanese for bringing down government

DOHA, March 1 (AFP) - The emir of Qatar, on the eve of a visit to Damascus, hailed the Lebanese people Tuesday for forcing the resignation of their Syrian-backed cabinet, but also praised the Beirut government for stepping down.

"I think the Arab peoples salute (the fact) that the Lebanese people were able to bring down a government, (but) also salute the government which agreed to fall in the interest of the Lebanese people," Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa
al-Thani told reporters after a meeting with visiting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

"Syria and Lebanon are neighborly states, and the situation in Lebanon is worrying and painful ... I hope peace" will prevail there, Sheikh Hamad said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karameh stepped down Monday following mass public protests sparked by the assassination of his predecessor and architect of Lebanon's post-war reconstruction, Rafiq Hariri.

The February 14 murder of Hariri in a huge bomb blast in Beirut has been widely blamed on the Lebanese regime and its Syrian backers.

A source close to the Qatari government told AFP that Sheikh Hamad planned to visit Damascus on Wednesday, but did not give details about the purpose of the trip.

Schroeder for his part backed calls for an international investigation into Hariri's killing and for a withdrawal of Syria's 14,000 troops from Lebanon,Berlin was "determined (to see) an international investigation" into Hariri's murder, the German leader told reporters.

"We demand the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions, that is Syria's full withdrawal from Lebanon," Schroeder said.

France and the United States are spearheading international calls for Syrian troops to end their three-decade-old presence in Lebanon.

The two countries sponsored Security Council Resolution 1559 passed last year which calls for an end to foreign interference in Lebanon and a withdrawal of foreign troops, although it stops short of mentioning Syria.

The Qatari emir, whose country is a close US ally, said the tiny gas-rich Gulf state would hold parliamentary elections in the near future, but he gave no date.

The German chancellor said his talks with the ruler of gas-rich Qatar covered boosting cooperation in the fields of energy, transport, tourism and scientific pursuits.

Schroeder arrived in Doha earlier Tuesday on the third leg of a Gulf tour which has already taken him to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. He also plans visits to Bahrain, Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.