by Mona Salem
CAIRO, Jan 26, 2008 (AFP) - Arab Foreign Ministers were gathered in Cairo on Sunday for talks on Lebanon's political crisis and developments in Gaza where residents poured over the flattened border into Egypt for a fifth day running.
Arab League chief Amr Mussa was holding bilateral talks with several Arab diplomats ahead of the extraordinary meeting, including with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit who told reporters on Saturday the meeting would help shed light on a proposed Arab intiative to end the stalemate in Lebanon.
The foreign ministers "will issue a statement that will clarify the more obscure parts of the Arab Initiative," Abul Gheit said without elaborating.
Mussa has held several rounds of talks with feuding political leaders in Lebanon to spur them to elect a new president and end the crisis which has left the country without a president since November 23.
On January 5 he proposed a three-point Arab initiative calling for army chief General Michel Sleiman to be elected president, the formation of a national unity government in which no one party has veto power, and the adoption of a new electoral law.
Lebanon's ruling parliamentary majority has accepted the plan but the Hezbollah-led opposition is demanding a third of the seats in a new government so the opposition can have veto power.
Mussa is expected to deliver a report on his mediation efforts.
In the report, obtained by AFP, he will urge Arab countries to continue diplomatic efforts to resolve the political crisis and heal deep mistrust in Lebanon.
He will also urge the foreign ministers to "continue efforts to provide the appropriate atmosphere on the Arab, regional and international fronts to aid the Arab League in its efforts with the Lebanese parties in a positive manner.
"The efforts should take into account the political and security fears and suspicions of the two sides, and their place in Lebanese politics, with its Arab, regional and international dimensions.
"The differences between the two sides on the formation of the cabinet reflect the extent of the lack of trust between them, and have implications that go beyond just numbers," he said.
The foreign ministers will also discuss developments in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
Gaza's main border crossing with Egypt -- the only one that bypasses Israel -- has been open since Wednesday when militants blew up several sections of the barrier amid a punishing Israeli blockade.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Davos meeting in Switzerland on Thursday, Mussa condemned the Israeli blockade as a "campaign to starve the people there" and said it undermined the already struggling peace process.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were relaunched in November in the United States, with US President George W. Bush predicting a signed peace deal before his term ends in 2009.
Israel has progressively tightened restrictions on movement in and out of the Gaza Strip since June 2006, when militants from the territory seized an Israeli soldier in a deadly cross-border raid.
The blockade was tightened to a full-scale lockdown last week, although after intense international pressure Israel agreed to allow some fuel shipments into Gaza.
mon-jaz/srm
Mideast-Arab
