Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani arrived in the southern city of Bint Jbeil in a visit to South Lebanon to inspect the Qatari-sponsored reconstruction projects that were launched following the July 2006 devastative Israeli war on Lebanon.
 
President Michel Sleiman was accompanying the Emir to the ceremony held in the city honoring Sheikh Hamad. They both inaugurated Bin Jbeil hospital.
House Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and MP Mohammed Raad representing Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah also attended the ceremony.
 
Amid cheering crowds, Bint Jbeil delegates handed Sheikh Hamad the key of the city. “I am happy to be in the South and particularly this region” which was devastated by the 2006 Israeli aggression, the Emir said. He saluted the resistance fighters who sacrificed their lives in defending the nation.
 
At the inauguration ceremony, Raad said that “the stability established in Lebanon after the Doha Accord is being targeted by the STL indictment.”
 
“We renew our commitment to UN resolution 1701 and strengthening our ties with UNIFIL,” Berri said. “We hope you would renew the Doha agreement and Taif Accord,” Berri addressed Sheikh Hamad by saying.
The Qatari Emir said “we realize the size of the dangers before Lebanon and we raise our voice in unison against the Gaza blockade.” “We will support Lebanon and its unity including all its sects and factions,” he added. Sheikh Hamad indicated that the Lebanese people have enough “will for life and perseverance that would enable them to recover from challenges.” He also congratulated Lebanon and the Lebanese on rebuilding Lebanon. “You have lifted Lebanon's head high and the heads of all Arab leaders, congratulations to Lebanon and the South on the reconstruction,” he said.
 
Then, Sheikh Hamad, Sleiman, Berri, and Hariri arrived at Kfarkila-Fatima gate as part of their tour.
 
On Friday, President Sleiman highlighted Qatar's influential role in reaching the Doha Accord, which helped restore calm in Lebanon following the May 7, 2008 clashes, in addition to its role in "the reconstruction process, especially after the July aggression and the issuance of UN Security Council Resolution 1701."
 
During a dinner banquet thrown in honor of visiting Qatari Emir, who arrived in Lebanon on a 3-day official visit, Sleiman stressed "the importance of keeping the Arab Peace Initiative as a basis as well as the need to implement it without any delay and according to fixed timeframes."
 
"We want Lebanon to preserve its unity and to remain free and sovereign under all circumstances and in the face of all pressures… We realize how much sensitive the current period is, and we pray to God that it passes peacefully," Sheikh Hamad said.
 
The banquet followed a closed-door meeting in the presidential palace. It was attended by Speaker Berri, PM Hariri, Lebanese ministers and MPs, former presidents, heads of political parties and the members of the national dialogue committee who had previously took part in the reconciliatory Doha Conference, Naharnet reported.
 
Sheikh Hamad lauded the Saudi king Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and Syrian president Bashar Assad’s visit which coincided with his visit. "We laud these efforts that aim to back Lebanon and safeguard it against sliding toward a situation only its enemies would benefit from."
 
Accompanying the emir is his wife Sheikha Mozah, his Personal Representative Sheikh Jassem bin Hamad al-Thani, Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah as well as a high level official delegation.
 
The Qatari emir arrived in Beirut Friday just around one hour after King Abdullah and President Assad concluded an unprecedented joint visit to the country aimed at defusing tensions over reports of an “impending indictment” by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon against Hezbollah members in the assassination case of ex-premier martyr Rafik Hariri.
 
The Lebanese daily An-Nahar quoted Saturday “Arab sources close to the tripartite summit” as saying that the three rulers agreed on rejecting any accusation against Hezbollah. “They agreed that Israel is behind plans to instigate internal strife in Lebanon. They added that all sides should wait for the indictment to be issued, and only then can the Lebanese government take the appropriate stand from it,” the daily said.
 
 
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