Annan urges Lebanon talks in hope of ending crisis

United Nations, Dec 8: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urgedLebanon's Western-backed government to return to talks with Hezbollahand other pro-Syrian opposition members in search of a deal offering away out of the country's current crisis.

With a little over three weeks left until he steps down as UNleader, Annan remained ''very concerned'' about the situation inLebanon ''and would renew his call for all the political parties, boththe opposition and the government, to return to the table and find apolitical solution to the current impasse,'' said his chief spokesman,Stephane Dujarric yesterday.

Annan steps down at the end of the month, to be succeeded by South Korean Ban Ki-moon.

Dujarric spoke with reporters after the French daily Le Mondereported that a senior U.N. official in Lebanon had warned UNheadquarters of an alleged plot by militants with ties to al Qaeda tosneak into the country to assassinate anti-Syrian leaders.

The spokesman said he could neither confirm nor deny the reportbut added that Annan was watching developments in Lebanon ''extremelyclosely.'' Lebanon has been shaken by a wave of politicalassassinations and other attacks targeting anti-Syrian politicians,journalists and others, starting with the February 2005 murder offormer Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Thousands of opposition followers have been camped out for thepast week in squares near government headquarters in central Beirut totry to topple anti-Syrian Prime Minister Fouad Siniora from power.

Coded Cable to Headquarters

The protests began after talks aimedat giving Hezbollah a greater voice in the government fell apartwithout a deal.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed yesterday to pressahead with his campaign to oust the government but promised hispowerful Shi'ite Muslim group would not spark a fresh civil war.

Le Monde said a top UN official had been told of the assassinationplot by Abbas Zaki, the Palestinian Liberation Organizationrepresentative in Lebanon, who said some 50 militants callingthemselves ''Fatah Al-Islam'' had entered Lebanon to assassinate 36anti-Syrian figures.

PLO security agents later confronted the group and arrested six ofthem, releasing four and turning a Syrian and a Saudi Arabian over tothe Lebanese military, the newspaper said.

The official informed headquarters of the allegations in atop-priority coded cable sent directly to UN Political Affairs headIbrahim Gambari, UN officials said, confirming the newspaper's account.

The UN officials added that headquarters received another cablefrom its mission in Lebanon three weeks ago, warning of a threatagainst UN facilities from an al Qaeda-related group.

The allegations of an assassination plot first appeared inBeirut's al-Mustaqbal newspaper, owned by Hariri's son, Saad, theleader of the anti-Syrian coalition.

Security sources said the Fatah group's offices have now beenclosed and its members restricted to a refugee camp in northernLebanon. The group's background and goals have been exaggerated, theysaid.

In New York, French UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere onThursday asked the Security Council to adopt a statement extending''its full support for the legitimate and democratically electedgovernment of Lebanon.'' The statement would also condemn any unlawfuleffort to topple the government or ''intervene in Lebanon's internalaffairs,'' according to a copy of the text obtained by Reuters.

Reuters