An-Nahar newspaper reported from Washington Friday that Bush is scheduled to hold talks with Siniora on April 18 at the White House, to reaffirm that his administration still considers Lebanon one of the top priorities in the region.

It quoted sources as saying that the U.S. president will assure the premier that "Lebanon is still one of the main concerns for the United States in the Middle East."

The sources said Bush will emphasize his country's "strong support for Lebanon in its path towards complete liberation from Syrian hegemony and its remnants."

The talks will also include helping Lebanon implement its economic reform plan as well as U.S. military aid to the country.

During his visit, the premier is also scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley in addition to other U.S. officials, An Nahar said.

Al Mustaqbal newspaper quoted sources in Siniora's office as saying that the premier will also travel to New York where he will hold talks with representatives of countries that are expected to take part in a donor conference for Lebanon.

Siniora's U.S. visit comes as Lebanon's top rival leaders are discussing divisive political issues that have catapulted the country into a crisis.

The talks that started on March 2, have achieved breakthroughs on some issues but have made little progress on the fate of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud that the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority is seeking to remove from power.

The participants have set April 28 as the deadline to continue discussions on this issue. The talks will then tackle the weapons of the resistance or Hezbollah, a major concern for the United States. Washington, that considers the group a "terrorist organization" has been adamant on seeing the full implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 that calls for the disarmament of all militias in Lebanon and free and fair presidential elections.

An Nahar's sources said the Bush administration believes the time is ripe for Siniora's visit to the U.S. to discuss the situation in Lebanon in light of regional developments. The sources said that Rice's recent statement on Hezbollah 's relationship with Iran and Syria and the role that the two regional powers are playing in the country, is an indication that the situation in Lebanon is now a major U.S. concern.

Rice has said that the Party of God's ties with Tehran and Damascus "are the biggest problem that the Lebanese are facing at this time." She expressed concern about the two counties' intervention in Lebanon.

Syria, the major power broker in Lebanon for decades, pulled its forces out of the country a year ago under international pressure and after mass protests that followed ex-premier Rafik Hariri 's assassination in Feb. 2005. In spite of the withdrawal, Damascus is still accused of interfering in the country through its allies, mainly Hezbollah. Arms shipments to the group are reported to come through the border with Syria.

Lebanon is attempting to demarcate its frontier and establish diplomatic relations with its neighbor, but it has so far been met with stiff resistance.

Iran, Hezbollah's main financial backer, is allegedly trying to fill the vacuum in Lebanon left by Syria, with whom it has forged a strategic alliance.

In a separate development Syria’s president Bashar el Assad has turned down Siniora's offer to visit Damascus and meet with him to discuss future relationships. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al Moualem yesterday poured cold water on calls by Lebanese political leaders to establish diplomatic relations with Damascus, saying such moves were premature.

Communication and trade channels are already developed enough to make opening embassies unnecessary, although Damascus does not rule out setting up diplomatic missions at some time in the future, Moualem said.

"It's premature. What Syria and Lebanon have is far more important than embassies - bilateral agreements are much more advanced than diplomatic relations," Moualem said in his first interview since becoming foreign minister in February.

"The idea can be studied if we find it will improve relations. The existing institutions are much more important than two traditional embassies," said Moualem, a former ambassador to the United States.

Lebanon's political leaders have entrusted Prime Minister Fouad Siniora with seeking diplomatic ties with Damascus but no formal request has been made yet to Syria's government. Anti-Syrian factions consider Syria's refusal to establish embassies a sign of its unwillingness to open a new chapter in relations following the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon last year.

Syria and Lebanon, which share a 250km border, have not had embassies on each other's territory since Western powers carved the two states out of the remnants of the Ottoman empire in 1920.

The Higher Syrian-Lebanese Council, based in Damascus and headed by a Lebanese, oversees bilateral ties. Damascus, however, has dominated ties since Syrian forces entered Lebanon in 1976 during the Lebanese civil war.

Relations between the two countries deteriorated last year after the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al Hariri. A UN investigation implicated Syrian security officials in the assassination. Syria has denied involvement. Under international pressure, Damascus pulled its troops out of Lebanon a few months after the Hariri killing, which threw Lebanon into a political crisis.

Lebanese leaders have been meeting since last month to stabilize the political system. They have so far failed to solve the most critical issues, which are:

1- Resignation of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud
2- Disarming of Hezbollah, a Shi'ite group with links to Tehran and Damascus.

Moualem said Syria wants the meetings to succeed. "The stability of Lebanon is important to Syria and vice versa. The situation is getting complicated in Lebanon because of foreign interference which prevents (us) reaching a national consensus," Moualem said, referring to the US.

Washington, which considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization, has been putting pressure on Syria to abandon its support for the group. Moualem dismissed suggestions that Syria might accept ending its backing for Hezbollah in return for the United States reducing pressure over the Hariri killing.

"Syria is not ready to enter into any deal that could hide the truth and at the expense of just causes," Moualem said.
"President Bashar el Assad has said many times Syria is innocent of this crime and that we have been harmed the most from it," he said.

Many political analysts in Lebanon also think it is not time to mend relations with the current Syrian regime as long as it remains a prime suspect in the murder of former premier Rafik al-Hariri. These analysts have called on the Arab countries that are pushing for reconciliation to concentrate instead on getting Syria to cooperate with the UN investigation team that is charged with finding out the killers of Hariri.

Sources: Ya Libnan, Naharnet