Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Beirut held a round of meetings with Lebanese leaders on Monday after Riyadh and Tehran agreed at a rare summit to work together to resolve Lebanon's political crisis.
Abdel Aziz Khoja met separately with President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Fuad Siniora on his return from Riyadh where he attended the meeting on Saturday between the leaders of the Sunni and Shiite regional powers.
"The atmosphere is very, very positive," he said after meeting Siniora. "I hope a solution will be reached before the Arab summit (in Saudia Arabia on March 28-29)," he told reporters. "If the Lebanese leaders approve the agreement, Saudi Arabia will be ready to host them in a meeting to help resolve the crisis."
Saudi Arabia, a main bankroller of Lebanon, has close ties with the Western-backed government in Beirut, which has been crippled by an opposition walkout and open-ended protest spearheaded by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Lebanese media reports said Saudi King Abdullah and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reached an agreement on a comprehensive solution to the two main problems: the opposition demand for veto in the government and the ratification of an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 murder of former premier Rafiq Hariri. Lebanon has been in turmoil since Hariri's assassination, which has been widely blamed on former powerbroker Syria.
The political feuding has arisen in part over the government's backing for a UN tribunal to try suspects in the Hariri killing, a move opposed by Syria and its allies in Lebanon.
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