At Army conference, look to sidelines

BEIRUT: High-ranking international figures are expected to attend the fourth regional conference organized by the Lebanese Army this week, but its sideline meetings will count the most.

Though the conference is slated to discuss the status quo in the Middle East, as well as possible developments, settlements and deals and the legitimacy of certain regimes. But the more important developments will take place during sideline discussions between high-level attendees and Lebanese officials, including President Michel Sleiman.

The conference, organized by the Army’s Center for Strategic Research and Studies, is scheduled to take place Thursday at the BIEL center at the Beirut waterfront.

Among the expected participants are United Nations-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmi, European Union Special Representative for the Southern Mediterranean region Bernardino Le?n, former Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Relations with African Countries Alexei Vasiliev and former Special Adviser for Transition in Syria at the U.S. Department of State Frederick Hoff.

Sources well informed about the preparations underway for the conference told The Daily Star that it would see wide-scale political discussions on the situation in Lebanon and the region, as Brahimi will seize the opportunity to meet with several officials and might arrange to meet with a senior Hezbollah official.

During the conference, Brahimi will also focus on issues related to Syrian refugees, whose official numbers in Lebanon have surpassed 1 million, creating an economic burden for a country already suffering from fiscal deficit.

Refugees from Syria, half of them children, now equal a quarter of Lebanon’s population, the UNHCR said in a statement, warning that most of them live in poverty and depend on aid for survival.

Refugee numbers are expected to increase further as the war between the Syrian regime and rebel fighters is proving to be intractable.

The sources said that Brahimi would urge Lebanese officials to stick to the disassociation policy and the Baabda Declaration, both of which call for distancing Lebanon from the Syrian conflict and maintaining neutrality.

The sources expected that the conference would provide a platform for participants to deliberate over regional issues and their repercussions for Lebanon’s delicate security situation.

Lebanese officials are also expected to be briefed on preparations underway for the Geneva III conference, especially as diplomatic reports are increasingly pessimistic about the Syrian regime’s participation. Damascus might find no incentive to take part in the political process if it continues to achieve victory on the battlefields in Syria.

Sleiman is expected to hold meetings with Hoff, Leon and Vasiliev, who will all likely stress the importance of holding the presidential election on time and then forming another national unity Cabinet to lay the groundwork for parliamentary elections, scheduled for November.