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TechnoratiLebanon hosts rare Arab leader summit
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi King Abdullah are in Beirut for a rare summit of regional leaders aimed at defusing tensions over reports of an impending indictment against Hezbollah members for the murder of former premier Rafiq Hariri.
The meeting was hastily organised amid fears of violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims erupting in Lebanon should the UN court probing Hariri's 2005 murder implicate the Shia-based Hezbollah.
Abdullah and Assad are to arrive together from Damascus and meet with Lebanon President Michel Suleiman before attending a luncheon with members of Lebanon's unity government.
They are hoping to work together to try to help stabilise Lebanon after years of mistrust and sectarian conflict.
Last week Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that he knew that the UN tribunal probing Hariri's murder was set to indict members of his party.
He made clear that he would not accept such a scenario, accusing the tribunal of being politicised and part of an Israeli plot.
The meeting marks Assad's first visit to Lebanon since 2002 when he traveled to Beirut to attend an Arab summit.
King Abdullah will be the first Saudi monarch to visit the country since 1957. The king attended the 2002 summit but he was crown prince at the time.
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