Members of the Arab Ministerial Committee released a statement detailing the findings of their preliminary investigations into the current crisis late on Thursday from the Phoenicia Intercontinental Hotel.  Calling on Lebanese leaders to return with it to Doha on Friday for roundtable talks, the statement stressed on dialing back Lebanon to the May 5, 2008 status quo before entering into dialogue on the electoral law and the formation of a national-unity government.

The airport road and Beirut’s port have duly been opened and fighting has come to a halt in the capital and in the nearby Chouf Mountains.  Sectarian fighting in recent days has killed upwards of 80, but life, in most respects on Friday, has returned to some state of normalcy, as Lebanese put their faith in their leaders’ capacity to dialogue.

“There must be agreement on returning to dialogue on the national-unity government and electoral law,” delegation head Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani read from the statement.  “This agreement must culminate with the end of the downtown sit-in on the eve that Army Commander General Michel Sleiman is [officially] announced as a consensus candidate for presidency.”

The statement also called on leaders “to refrain from returning to arms or violence to achieve political ends” and “to end their use of political and sectarian incitement and accusations of treachery at once.”

MPs and party heads accepted the invitation to Doha, pledging to do all they can to facilitate the immediate implementation of the Arab initiative.  Parliamentary-majority leader Saad Hariri said, “The committee’s final statement reiterated the importance of the Taif Agreement and the constitution, which are the basis of the state.” 

Originally, the trip to Qatar was to involve three planes: one for March 14, another for March 8 and a third for journalists.  A compromise, however, was reached in the morning, according to LBC television, and rival politicians agreed to share one plane. 

On their way to Rafik Hariri International Airport, politicians passed by a peaceful demonstration of Lebanese holding signs reading, “If you don’t agree, don’t return,” reported the Voice of Lebanon radio station.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa promised on Thursday that, “The commission is bringing antibiotics with it, not aspirin, in order to solve the crisis in Lebanon.”  The pithy comment hinted at a recent statement by MP Michel Aoun from Wednesday, in which the FPM head noted that the crisis in Lebanon “requires an antibiotic” to be cured.

The Arab Ministerial Committee was formed on Sunday in an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers at Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.  The committee then spent Monday and Tuesday in Doha, awaiting the opening of Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut before embarking to Lebanon.

The committee, which arrived Wednesday at noon after opposition protestors agreed to temporarily open the airport road for the delegation, was headed by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani and included foreign ministers from Algeria, Djibouti, Jordan, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.  Syrian, Saudi and Egyptian ambassadors also met the committee upon its arrival and have participated in the days’ talks.

Over the course of its brief visit, the committee met with nearly a score of Lebanon’s top politicians, including Aoun, Sleiman, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Hariri, PSP head Walid Jumblatt, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, former President Amin Gemayel, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Deputy Secretary General of Hezbollah Naim Qassem. 

Several disputes between committee members over the course of their visit highlighted international components of the crisis.  Syrian and Saudi representatives of the delegation exchanged fiery words with one another midday Thursday.  Saudi Ambassador Ahmed al-Qattan, whose government backs Lebanon’s March 14 coalition, accused Syrian Ambassador Youssef al-Ahmed, whose government openly backs the opposition, of “undermining the size of the crisis, calling for the condemnation of the government and supporting the fighting and the deployment of armed groups in Beirut and other cities.”     

March 14 delegates on Friday or Saturday are expected to open the dialogue with questions on Hezbollah’s arms.  “The points to be discussed in the dialogue have to do with the latest events. There are the points from the Arab initiative in addition to the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons and spreading state authority across all Lebanese soil,” said Amin Gemayel to LBC today before boarding his plane to Doha.  “We insist on discussing the relations between Hezbollah and the state, because what we have witnessed was a futile, tragic and suicidal adventure.