Maurice Kaldawi
Daily Star staff

Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said Tuesday that most countries were against military solutions to the world’s problems, affirming that war would contribute to “increasing violence, destruction and tragedies.”
Speaking after a series of meetings with leaders attending the second day of the Non-Aligned summit in Kuala Lumpur, Hariri reiterated demands for finding a peaceful solution for the Iraqi conflict.
Replying to a question about his expectations for the two-day summit in Malaysia, Hariri said most if not all speeches expressed a rejection of war and support for a peaceful solution to the Iraq crisis.
“What counts is that there be a follow-up to the atmosphere created by the summit,” he said.
Hariri told reporters after meeting Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan that Lebanon opposed “all forms of war” and didn’t believe military action would solve the problem.
“It is time to search for ways to solve the Iraqi problem through peaceful means. This is Lebanon’s stand and the stand of most Arab countries,” he said.
But Ramadan said the Arab position toward US threats on Iraq was the “weakest circle on the international map.” He added that discussions with various heads of state suggested a “denunciation and rejection of the logic of American aggression, whether with respect to Iraq or as a means of conducting international affairs.”
He also categorically rejected of the use of force.
Hariri also met with the leader of the Kuwaiti delegation, Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah, for a review of Arab developments and bilateral ties.
“There is no problem in relations between the two countries as a result of what happened,” Hariri said. “Things are going well. What is important is that we look to the future and see what safeguards the interests of the Arab nation and the region.”
He was referring to Lebanese-Kuwaiti differences over procedure at the recent Cairo meeting of Arab foreign ministers and the event’s final statement, which urged members to refrain from providing aid to military operations against Iraq.
Kuwait, which hosts the bulk of US troops in the region, had filed an official protest with the Arab League over the Lebanon’s chairing of the meeting.

(The Daily Star on line) 26/02/03