Arab delegation going to Lebanon to try to broker a settlement

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Arab foreign ministers urged warring Lebanese factions to immediately cease fighting and said Sunday they will send a delegation to try to broker a settlement between the Hizbullah-led opposition and US-backed government Arab League foreign ministers held an emergency meeting in Cairo on the Lebanon crisis two days after Iranian-backed Hizbullah took control of most of Muslim west Beirut in a showdown with the government. The fighters withdrew on Saturday. The Arab League issued a statement at the end of the meeting implicitly criticizing the Shiite militant Hizbullah. "The ministers reject the principal of resorting to armed violence to achieve political goals," it said. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said the delegation would leave for Lebanon soon but did not give a date. No flights have gone into Beirut for four days because Hizbullah supporters have blocked the airport road. Moussa said the delegation would need to make security arrangements with the Lebanese army to go in.