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Damascus: Syrian President Bashar Al Assad on Monday offered to help bolster security in Lebanon and voiced support for inter-Lebanese talks to solve a protracted political crisis.
Syria "stands ready to provide all possible help which the Lebanese could request, to guarantee security and stability in Lebanon," Bashar said, according to the official Sana news agency.
Bashar made the remarks during talks with Lebanese parliament speaker and opposition leader Nabih Berri.
The Syrian president also expressed support for "an internal Lebanese dialogue" saying such talks between Beirut's feuding politicians would help resolve the crisis that has plagued Lebanon for more than a year.
After the two-hour meeting, Berri told reporters that Syria was putting "no conditions" on the inter-Lebanese talks which he has been trying to organise.
Berri said the visit to Damascus had provided him "with a new boost to launch a dialogue in Lebanon aimed at electing... General Michel Sulaiman to the Lebanese presidency" - a reference to the Lebanese army chief.
Berri's spokesman Ali Hamdan had earlier said that the speaker intends to gather Lebanon's political leaders for talks before April 22 when parliament is due to convene for a fresh attempt to elect a president. Lebanon has been without a president for more than four months amid bickering between the ruling coalition, backed by the West and most Arab states, and the Hezbollah-led opposition, backed by Syria and Iran.
Both sides have agreed on Sulaiman as a consensus candidate for the post but continue to bicker about the make-up of a new cabinet.
Parliamentary sessions to vote for a new president have been postponed 17 times since last September.
Berri is expected to visit Cairo and Riyadh, his spokesman said, without giving a date.
Syria promised Arab leaders at an Arab summit in Damascus last month it would cooperate in efforts to end the crisis, while Saudi Arabia said it saw Damascus as part of the solution.
Berri was quoted by Beirut's pro-Syrian As Safir daily as saying that he would go on two "important visits" to Damascus and Riyadh for talks with the Syrian and Saudi leaderships.
"Based on the results of these two visits and my internal communications ... I will decide on the next move on the issue of the dialogue," he said.
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