France cuts Syria ties; J'lem monitors Lebanon election

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday he had instructed his staff to suspend diplomatic contacts with Syria until Damascus showed its willingness to let Lebanon elect a new president.

Speaking to reporters in Cairo after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Sarkozy said he would not have any more contact with Damascus until his government had "received proof of Syria's intention to let Lebanon designate a president of consensus."

Diplomatic sources close to the Paris-Damascus relationship said France has no intention of ending its diplomatic relationship with Syria. Sarkozy's declaration is clearly aimed at turning up international pressure on Syria.

Lebanon has been without a president since November 23, when the pro-Syrian leader Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term without a successor. Opposition boycotts have thwarted attempts to choose a president by preventing a quorum in Parliament. The election was delayed Saturday for the 11th time.

On December 16, the day before the conference of Palestinian donor states was held, Sarkozy and his Syrian counterpart, President Bashar Assad, held their last conversation, described by observers as "difficult."

Jerusalem is closely monitoring the political situation in Lebanon, but most of the work is being carried out by the Foreign Ministry and the defense establishment. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert receives briefings, but the kitchen cabinet has not been convened to discuss the crisis.

In recent weeks there have been two major discussions on Lebanon, in the National Security Council (NSC) and in the Planning Branch of the Israel Defense Forces. Both discussions were comprehensive and were attended by representatives from Military Intelligence, the Mossad, the Defense Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the NSC and the IDF's Planning Branch. All possible scenarios were reviewed, and proposals for dealing with the crisis and with its aftermath were discussed.

There is no single, agreed-upon Israeli approach for dealing with the events in Lebanon at present. Some officials believe an independent Lebanon would weaken Hezbollah and thereby help Israel, while others say Israel should support more Syrian involvement in Lebanon.

Syria is supportive of any action that will bring about peace, Assad told U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) in Damascus yesterday. Syria's official news agency, SANA, quoted Assad as saying that peace is Syria's strategic choice and it welcomes any effort that could lead to it. He added that that was behind Syria's decision to attend last month's Annapolis summit. Assad and Specter also reportedly discussed the need to maintain ties between Syria and the U.S. to help solve the problems of both countries.