Beirut's association agreement with the European Union, a crucial step to reviving the the country's economy, hit a snag Friday with Britain's last-minute demand for the inclusion of an anti-terrorism clause.
"The European Commission will inform Lebanon today that there remains before signature discussion on the inclusion of a provision on terrorism identical to the one requested of Algeria and Egypt," Patrick Renauld, the EU delegate in Beirut, told AFP.
On November 19, European Commission President Romano Prodi said that the EU association accord with Lebanon, which has been under discussion since 1995, would be signed within two weeks.
Renauld said that, in addition to the anti-terror question, there is only one remaining, purely commercial, wrinkle to iron out. It is related to the import duty on cut flowers, which Lebanon raised from 30 to 70 percent on October 6.
But Renauld said the anti-terrorism clause should not be viewed as "excessively compelling" and had "nothing to do with American demands regarding Hezbollah."
He was referring to a US call for Beirut to freeze the assets of Hezbollah, a militant Shiite radical group in Lebanon considered by Washington to be a terrorist organization because of its attacks on Israel.
Beirut has refused to comply, arguing that Hezbollah is engaged in legitimate resistance to Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory.
Britain had then backed the US call, but toned it down by saying it only considered the group's "external security" wing to be targetted.
London had raised the inclusion of the anti-terrorism clause on November 30 at a meeting in Brussels of senior EU officials discussing negotiations with Lebanon.
Britain made its official request for the clause to be included on Thursday, according to diplomatic sources here.
France, Germany and Greece have opposed the clause, considering that such a last-minute obstacle would complicate negotiations for the agreement that were nearing their end, they said.
Once the agreement is reached with the European Union, the accord only takes effect after being unanimously adopted by member states.
But Lebanon's financial situation is fragile, with a debt exceeding 25 billion dollars representing 150 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and a stagnant economy since 1998.
Since the EU remains Lebanon's main trade partner, excessive delay in reaching the association agreement could cause a confidence crisis in the country and create unforeseen social and political problems which could, in turn, further complicate the Middle East peace process.
Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri is to meet with French President Jacques Chirac in Paris on Sunday to discuss the issue, and on Friday the French foreign ministry said it hoped the accord would be signed "as soon as possible."
Renauld said the clause would stipulate that "the parties, with respect to international conventions to which they are party, and to their legislation and to their respective regulations, agree to cooperate with a view to preventing and repressing terrorist acts within the framework of (UN Security Council) resolution 1373" on sharing information and expertise.
An EU embassy source in Beirut explained to AFP that "if there is to be a clause about anti-terrorism cooperation, it would be on the same lines as other Arab countries that have already agreed to."
A European diplomat here recalled that Beirut has previously refused to include such a clause, judging it to be unacceptable, adding that the accord could be delayed or blocked.
The diplomat said the reason was because "any clause with political implications must be discussed at the same time among Lebanese leaders and with Syria," the main power broker in Lebanon and a principal Hezbollah backer.
"Thus there is a risk of complication," he said -- AFP
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
