Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Monday he hopes a new president for Lebanon would be elected prior to the Arab Summit in Damascus scheduled for late March. "We hope the efforts of (Arab League chief) Amr Moussa will bring about a solution in Lebanon leading to the election of a president of the republic before the holding of the Arab summit" on March 29-30, he said, according to AFP.
"Syria supports the Arab initiative as an overall plan which would be implemented by consensus between the Lebanese," he told a joint news conference with visiting Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim. The Lebanese parliament was to have voted on Monday to elect a successor but the session was called off.
