ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 17 - Arab Initiative, Tehran Talks, Internal Shifts Mark Crossroads For Lebanon.

The head of the Arab League General AMoussa voices optimism on negotiations to end Lebanon's political stalemate, as internal talks are put on hold pending the outcome of Feb 17 meetings between Syrian Pres Bashar Assad and Iranian Pres Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The dynamic of internal talks also appeared to shift, with Hizbullah taking a back seat in negotiations to opposition ally Amal. Amal leader Nabih Berri and Future Movement leader Saad Hariri were expected to meet this week. The Tehran-Damascus talks were expected to shed light on Syria's position with respect to a draft proposal to establish an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, a key sticking point in Lebanon. In an interview with Al-Jazeera television Saturday, Arab League Secretary General AMoussa said that the Arab initiative is "moving forward". "There are great efforts in keeping channels of communication open between all the sides in Lebanon, and between Lebanon and other countries, Arab and non-Arab", he told the television station. After failing to break the deadlock in the first round of mediation efforts, Moussa's return to Lebanon would signal a breakthrough in the ongoing deadlock, but as of yet he has not set a date of return. A recent trip by his aid, Ambassador Hisham Youssef, was unsuccessful, with Youssef leaving the country "worried". "The most critical point to accomplish in the Arab initiative is that there should no victor or vanquished and no preference for any side", said Moussa. Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Fatfat said Sunday that "we are on the way to making internal compromises". "Reconciliation can be achieved on the Lebanese field, but there is no denying that the solution here is connected to the current regional developments", Fatfat said in a statement. The minister stressed that meetings in Saudi Arabia and Iran are "critical" to what is happening in Lebanon. A shift in the opposition's negotiating strategy was signalled in a speech on Friday by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who said that the best solution now would be "bi-lateral" meetings between an official from one camp and the other. Although he said that he had personally given up on dialogue with the March 14 Forces, he added that "the opposition is not just Hizbullah, so meetings between its allies and the other camps are the same as meeting Hizbullah. Meeting with our allies is like meeting with us". Resigned Health Minister Muhammad Khalifeh, who is close to the Amal Movement, called on Sunday for dialogue, adding that the "only substitute for communication is chaos". "It is not enough to have all these outside Arab initiatives", he said. "They help, but not enough to solve the political crisis. We need internal meetings between the different sides". Khalifeh confirmed that the meeting between Amal leader Berri and Future's Hariri would take place "soon", but did not specify the date. Hariri is currently in Saudi Arabia. The vice president of the Higher Shi'ite Council, Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan, also called for compromise and a return to dialogue. "The country is in a tight spot, and still leaders refuse to meet and reach some sort of a compromise", said Qabalan on Sunday during a religious ceremony. "We need to be just one hand, a united one between all the religions and sects before we can reach an understanding". However, statements by Hizbullah officials were more escalatory over the weekend, with less optimistic views on a break in the crisis. "The country is about to collapse because of the actions of the ruling team", Hizbullah MP Muhammad Raad said Sunday. Speaking during a celebration in Nabatieh, Raad said that the "ruling majority doesn't want to reach a solution because the US doesn't want the country to stabilize until it has a better grip on what is happening in Baghdad and Palestine". Hizbullah continued its anti-government campaign on Sunday with a protest by teachers. Pro-Hizbullah schoolteachers held a sit-in outside the UN headquarters in Naqoura to demand that UNIFIL stop supporting PM Fouad Siniora's government. Some 150 teachers met French UN troops and held up signs in English, stating: The solution is by having early parliamentary elections" and "The Siniora government is an illegal one on all sides".