Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi King Abdullah met with Lebanese politicians on Friday in a bid to ensure stability amid concerns that sectarian rifts could widen, dpa reported.
The two leaders made a concerted effort to calm the atmosphere in the event a United Nations tribunal indicts members of the Hezbollah movement over the 2005 killing of former premier Rafik al-Hariri.
A joint statement by the three countries, released by the Lebanese presidential palace, called on the factions in Beirut "not to resort to violence" and to "prioritize Lebanon's higher interests over anything else."
The two visiting leaders arrived on a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane at Beirut's airport at the start of the historic trip. After shaking hands with Lebanese officials, they went to the presidential palace to exchange gifts, attend a luncheon and start the talks.
The summit saw Assad make his first visit to Beirut since the 2005 assassination of Hariri. Abdullah is the first Saudi monarch to come to Lebanon since 1957.
Streets in the capital were adorned with the countries' flags and huge portraits of the two foreign leaders, both power brokers in the Mediterranean state.
The visit brought "considerable stability to the country after the regional tensions," Saad al-Hariri, son of the slain leader and current Lebanese premier, said in a statement ahead of the arrival.
Staunch anti-Syrian parties in Lebanon were excluded from the talks. These include radical right-wing elements and some Maronite Christian groups who have fought Syria over the years and remain deeply critical of Damascus.
Saad al-Hariri, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and Nabih Berri, the speaker of parliament, held bilateral talks and group discussions with the guests along with members of various parties, including Hezbollah, and religious leaders.
The talks were described as being "positive" and held in a good atmosphere.
Assad and Abdullah started their bilateral talks Thursday in Damascus. The day before, the king also met for an hour with Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak, in the first stop of his regional tour.
Though some Lebanese groups have in the past blamed Damascus for the death of Hariri in a bomb blast, Assad is seen as a leader with influence over the more militant political factions in Beirut.
Hezbollah, the powerful Shiite movement, has said it would reject any attempt to indict its members for Hariri's assassination, after reports circulated that some party figures could end up being charged with involvement.
"Lebanon is neither an American colony nor a military base that Washington controls according to its interests with Israel," Hezbollah said before the talks in Beirut got under way, after accusing the tribunal of having biased interests.
Saad al-Hariri has visited Damascus several times in recent years for talks with the Syrian president, whose troops withdrew from the neighbouring country in 2005, following the assassination.
Abdullah, a backer of the Western-leaning Lebanese government, has also seen his country's previously tense ties with Damascus warm recently. His last trip to Lebanon, in 2002, had been during his time as crown prince, though Riyadh keeps a close watch on the country.
The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, will also be in Lebanon over the weekend. He is said to be keen, along with Abdullah and now Assad, to keep the calm in Beirut.
The so-called Doha Agreement was reached in 2008 by the rival Lebanese factions in Qatar, ending 18 months of political deadlock and giving the country a stable cabinet for the first time in years.
Syrian, Saudi leaders urge Lebanese to ease tensions
