Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs, expressed his “dismay” Friday that remarks made to Saudi Television Channel 1 had been “taken out of their correct context” and given the “erroneous interpretation that there had been a change in the Kingdom's policy towards Lebanon”. “What has been said is incorrect,” Prince Saud told the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). “What has changed is the halt in mediation between Syria and Lebanon. “The Kingdom's position remains in support of Lebanese legitimacy which is the foundation for the stability of Lebanon and the preservations of its security, and remains in support of the majority.” Earlier in the week, Prince Saud said if the situation is not resolved in Lebanon this could lead to “secession and division” of the country, which would be a “great loss to the entire nation”. He said Lebanon has been a model of “peaceful cohabitation between religions and different sects and factions”. The standoff between Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri's camp and Hezbollah is linked to a dispute over a UN-backed probe into the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father, former premier Rafiq Hariri. The standoff between Hariri's camp and Hezbollah deepened this week after the prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) submitted a sealed indictment in the Hariri case, which is now being reviewed by a judge. Hezbollah has said it expects party members to be implicated by the tribunal, which it accuses of being part of a US-Israeli plot. Fears of street violence soared after dozens of black-clad unarmed Hezbollah supporters gathered in several neighborhoods of west Beirut, prompting schools to shut down and the army to deploy in those areas. Consultations on forming a new government are scheduled to begin Monday but experts and politicians have predicted a protracted crisis that could lead to similar violence as that in May 2008, which brought the country close to a new civil war.
