Beirut/Damascus - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Wednesday that he hoped Lebanon's upcoming parliamentary elections will be held in "a tension-free" environment. He was speaking in Beirut as part of a week-long trip to the Middle East, and shortly before a UN Special Tribunal in the Hague is due to try alleged suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
"All parties in Lebanon will be working constructively in the build up for the elections. I believe this atmosphere will last till after the polls," Solana told reporters. The election is due June 7.
He also called on Lebanese parties to cooperate with the UN Special Tribunal, which begins its hearings on Sunday.
"We hope that all sides cooperate with the special tribunal for Lebanon. We heard from Syria that Damascus is moving toward cooperating with the tribunal as well," Solana added.
Hariri's allies have blamed Syria for the assassination, a charge vehemently denied by Damascus. The killing led to an international outcry that forced Syria to end 30-years of military presence in Lebanon.
Asked if he discussed the Syrian-Lebanese ties during his talks earlier Wednesday in Damascus with Syrian officials, Solana said: "I did not discuss with Syria its ties with Lebanon, they both are sovereign states. I hope that Syria and Lebanon maintain their diplomatic relations and move swiftly to open the embassies."
Syrian-Lebanese relations soured after the Hariri assassination, but in October last year Lebanese president Michel Suleiman agreed with his Syrian counterpart to establish diplomatic ties - the first since Lebanon gained its independence in 1943.
Solana met Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Fouad Seniora and House Speaker Nabih Berri, as well as Foreign Minister Fawzi Salkhouh during the brief trip.
Solana had arrived from Damascus, where he met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallim, telling them he hoped 2009 would be a year of peace talks.
He added that he had "the feeling there is a desire to push negotiations (with Israel) forward" - but Solana and his Syrian counterpart disagreed on the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007.
Solana said that the EU's policy on the Islamist Palestinian Hamas group was clear and constant - that the EU would not deal with Hamas until the group changed its policies.
The Syrian foreign minister on Wednesday urged the EU and the United States to negotiate "with all parties involved, without exception."
"Hamas is a reality and represents an important part of the Palestinian people," al-Muallim said.
Both Solana and al-Muallim said they were anxious to work with US President Barack Obama's new special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, to push the peace process forward.
"I worked with Senator Mitchell, and I know him well," Solana said. "He is a smart and active person who is fair."
Responding to a question about the Israeli elections' potential effects on the peace process, al-Muallim told reporters that while Benjamin Netanyahu had not yet formed a government, "any party that does not work toward building peace will lose in the end."
Solana is expected in Israel on Thursday, and was to spend Friday and Saturday in the Palestinian territories, before attending a March 2 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on reconstructing the Palestinian economy.
