Syria backs Arab League efforts on Lebanon-envoy

BEIRUT, Dec 11 (Reuters) The Arab League won vital Syrian support today for its efforts to end a standoff between Lebanon's government and a Hezbollah-led opposition rallying hundreds of thousands in central Beirut, an envoy said.

Arab League envoy Mustafa Osman Ismail said he also had backing in principle from rival factions in Lebanon. But Lebanese political sources from both camps said there was no progress.

''I have received confirmation from the brothers in Syria that they (support)... Lebanese consensus and support our efforts,'' Ismail, a Sudanese presidential adviser, said after talks with President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.

There should, he said, be ''no victor and no vanquished''.

Ismail later travelled to Beirut and held separate talks with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a close ally of the pro-Syrian Hezbollah.

''I'm on a tour to assess the situation,'' Ismail told reporters, adding that he would see more political and religious leaders in Lebanon. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa was due to join him in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday.

''Ismail did not carry anything new. There is no progress,'' a senior opposition source familiar with the talks said. An official source said it was early to speak of a breakthrough.

Syria's backing is seen as essential in forging any compromise in Lebanon. Though its troops left the country more than 18 months ago, Damascus still wields influence on many groups, the most powerful of which is Hezbollah.

An anti-government protest campaign entered its 11th day today with thousands of opposition supporters maintaining a round-the-clock vigil at a tent city in central Beirut.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters attended a rally in Beirut on Sunday to press demands for a national unity government that grants more power to Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah and its Christian and Muslim allies.

SERIOUS RISK Lebanese Economy and Trade Minister Sami Haddad warned a prolonged political crisis could threaten a crucial aid conference scheduled for January. 25 in Paris.

''Worst case scenario could be very bleak if the political tension continues and we are not able to go to the Paris conference to get the desperately needed financial assistance, things could spin out of control,'' he told Reuters.

Siniora, who has the backing of many world leaders, and his anti-Syrian allies refuse opposition demands, saying Hezbollah wants to place Lebanon under the tutelage of Syria and Iran.

Ismail told Arabiya television that the proposals cover a unity government, passage of a UN-proposed international tribunal to try suspects in last year's killing of ex-premier Rafik al-Hariri and early presidential and general elections.

Lebanese political sources said Ismail and Moussa faced a difficult task in getting all parties not just to agree on the various issues but also on the sequence of implementing them.

Hezbollah accuses Siniora and some allies of trying to weaken the group during a war with Israel in July and August.

Siniora has accused Hezbollah of trying to stage a coup following the war and commentators have warned the worsening standoff could degenerate into sectarian violence in a country still trying to rebuild after a 1975-90 civil war.

REUTERS PDM RN2052