Beirut - Lebanese political leaders were holding Friday rapid and successive talks with the visiting King Abdullah of
Saudi Arabia and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The two visitors are making a concerted effort to cool the atmosphere in Lebanon, with fears that sectarian rifts could widen if a
United Nations tribunal indicts members of the Hezbollah movement over the 2005 killing of former premier Rafik al-Hariri.
The son of the slain Hariri, current Prime Minister Saad al- Hariri, held talks with the Saudi monarch, while Lebanese President Michel Suleiman met with Assad. Hariri also invited members of Lebanon's numerous religious sects to the talks with King Abdullah.
Later, Nabih Berri, the Lebanese speaker of Parliament and an ally of Hezbollah, met Assad. Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al- Muallem sat with Muhammed Raad, head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc.
Assad and Suleiman then met again and were joined by members of Hezbollah.
The aim, political officials in Beirut said, was to reach an agreement on how to deal with the tribunal. They added that the talks were "positive."
