Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Wednesday dismissed Israeli call for direct talks and said Lebanon would be the last Arab country to ever sign a peace deal with the Jewish state.
"Let it be clear, we are not seeking any agreement until there is just and comprehensive peace based on the Arab initiative," Siniora told reporters. He was referring to a plan that came out of a 2002 Arab League summit in Beirut. It calls for Israel to return all territories it conquered in the 1967 Mideast war, the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem all in exchange for peace and full normalization of Arab relations with the occupying regime.
"Just after 300 million Arab will make peace with Israel, Lebanon will sign peace agreement with Israel. Is it clear?", asked the Lebanese leader.
Siniora also said 130,000 housing units had been destroyed or damaged in more than a month of Israeli air raids and ground assaults fighting against Lebanon.
He departed from Beirut's airport midday, heading to an international donors' conference set for Thursday in Stockholm, Sweden.
