Berri: Syrian-Saudi Initiative in Recovery Stage

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said that "the illness of Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz reflected negatively on the Syrian-Saudi initiative, especially because the Saudi King along with the Syrian President Bashar Al Assad are its primary sponsors. During his convalescence, the initiative came to a halt, and when the king entered the recovery period the initiative" did the same."

On a similar note, An-Nahar Lebanese daily discussed a report in the Syrian state-run daily Teshreen, which said that "all sides are hoping that Prime Minister Saad Hariri would take the bold and brave stance to reject the accusation of Hizbullah (members in the assassination of his father), and annul the politicized tribunal (Special Tribunal for Lebanon).

Teshreen reiterated this stance was what Syrian President Bashar Al Assad assured, that the rejection would be similar to the torpedoing of the May 17 agreement of 1983, noting that still there is time for such a step.