Official: Syrian-Saudi Initiative's Single Objective is Domestic Stability

A government official said Friday that the Syrian-Saudi initiative calls for clear steps to ease tensions in Lebanon and reduce the rhetoric among the rival political parties.

"All of the steps center on a single objective which is domestic stability and the ability of Lebanon to absorb the indictment" that will be issued by the international tribunal, the official told Agence France Presse.

"The government has been paralyzed for months and the political leaders should be able to discuss issues and that has not been happening," he added.

"We hoped to see the process translating into tension-easing steps but that has not so far happened," he said. "The ball is in their (Hizbullah's) court."

He said the Saudi-Syrian deal also calls for steps to improve relations between Beirut and Damascus, which have cooled in recent months.

The government official brushed aside as "off the mark" persistent reports in Lebanese and other newspapers that the mediation of Riyadh and Damascus calls for Hariri to reject the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

"A pre-emptive rejection of the tribunal is unthinkable," he said. "The prime minister has not agreed to such a rejection.

"This is a tribunal requested by Lebanon, a court requested to get the perpetrators (of Hariri's assassination), this is a national cause," the official stressed.