Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa is arriving this Wednesday morning in Beirut and is expected to meet as many leaders as possible during his first day here to explain the Arab plan in detail. The initiative is based on a three point plan to end the political crises in Lebanon: Election of Lebanese Army chief General Michel Suleiman as president, the establishment of a national unity government and the passing of a new electoral law.
As they say the ‘devil is in the detail’ and for this reason some have expressed cautious optimism hoping to respond positively once they have a chance to read between the lines of the agreement.
There is a lot of speculation on the shape of the unity government. One thing has been made clear, the opposition will not have veto power. On the other hand the president will have enough representatives to allow him to have a major say in the decisions of the cabinet. This should be welcome news to the opposition since Syria appointed General Suleiman as the Army chief during the occupation.

Hezbollah

Resigned Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, a member of the Hezbollah group praised the Arab initiative and told Voice of Tomorrow radio station” it brought a new wave of optimism and we hope this could translate into a settlement in the interest of all the Lebanese in which there is no victor no vanquished”
Al Markaziyah news agency also said that so far Hezbollah has not issued any negative response to the Arab plan, and according to its sources the group is looking positively at the Arab initiative as a whole basket that contains solutions to all the outstanding issues. MP Jamal Al-Taqash of the Hezbollah group in the Lebanese parliament said that his party is ready to discuss the Arab League plan seriously with Moussa. He said his party is not yet well-informed of the details of the plan. In a related development the opposition representatives have contacted General Michel Suleiman to arrange for a meeting to inform him about their reaction to the Arab initiative before Arab League Chief Amr Moussa shows up Wednesday in Beirut.

Berri

Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri welcomed the Arab backing for the the election of Gen. Michel Suleiman as president and expressed hope for the implementation of the initiative. Berri, in a statement, praised "Arab unanimity of (safeguarding) Lebanon's supreme interest." He added this is a "historic stand in support of inter-Lebanese consensus". "We hope it would be carried out in reality," Berri said. He concluded by stressing: "I tell the Lebanese people that we can proceed from the Arab statement to Lebanese implementation that stresses on our unity and guarantees our safety."

Aoun

Unfortunately Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun is the only negative voice. He said Monday after a meeting of his reform and change bloc “the initiative adopted by Arab foreign ministers in Cairo includes what had been included in the previous initiatives that had failed.” Aoun belittled the Arab Foreign ministers by saying “the Arabs do not act without American approval or blessing." Aoun insisted that any negotiations to settle the ongoing crisis should go through him.

Siniora

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora hailed the Arab initiative, calling it "a major development on the road to solving the crisis in Lebanon." He called the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Egypt as well as other Arab officials to thank them for helping find a solution to the Lebanese crisis. Siniora urged the pro-government Lebanese officials to back Arab initiative

Hariri

Parliament majority leader Saad Hariri welcomed the initiative which he called the "Roadmap" His office released a statement saying “The Arab confirmed the need to fill in the vacuum at the presidential office and the need to shift quickly to set the constitutional mechanism that would allow parliament to convene and carry out the resulting consensus on Gen. Suleiman without any pre-conditions." "On behalf of all the free people in Lebanon I thank … whoever played a role in achieving this historic Arab stand regarding Lebanon," Hariri said. Hariri on Tuesday was guest of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy to discuss the Arab initiative.

Jumblatt

Democratic Gathering leader MP Walid Jumblatt wrote on Tuesday in the weekly newspaper "Al Anbaaa", "The Arabs in this proposal are trying to help Lebanon out after the failure of all other efforts to end the crises in Lebanon. The decision reflects the insistence of the Arabs on making sure there is no return of the Syrian tutelage to Lebanon." He added: "It must be said that the Arab resolution was equally fair to all parties, and seeks to provide immediate and progressive solutions to the crisis by calling for immediate election of Gen. Michel Suleiman as the new president. Therefore, all Lebanese political parties are invited to take this opportunity to enter into a new honorable settlement. The Arab proposal meets the political demands of all parties: From the presidential election, to the government partnership on the basis of equality between all, and the launching of discussion for a new electoral law. Jumblatt cautioned against speculation or misinterpretation of the initiative. This he said will be interpreted as "another effort to block the election of the president and maintain the status quo and to invite Syrian tutelage back to Lebanon." He added "lets not miss another opportunity for Lebanon and the Lebanese people".

Geagea

Dr. Samir Geagea, leader of the Lebanese Forces described the Arab initiative as "balanced clear, practical and direct and therefore nothing prevents the parliament members to head to the parliament this Saturday and elect the President of the Republic," he said.

Kabbani

Lebanese Minister of Education Khalid Qabbani, called the plan adopted by the Arab foreign ministers a "historical achievement" and urged all Lebanese political groups to adopt it. He cautioned against playing down the importance of the plan which he said "will not be helpful because it would dampen hopes of breaking the deadlock over the presidency." Moussa’s selling job won’t be easy despite the fact that the political rivals have publicly offered to buy it with the exception of Aoun who considers the Arab League, the Arab Foreign Ministers, the French, the US and cardinal Sfeir the Head of the Maronite Church as a competition. Aoun is still insisting that any negotiations to settle the ongoing crisis should go through him. The majority says "Aoun is a tool in the hands of Hezbollah and has refused to negotiate with him." The majority considers Aoun, who aspires to be the president at any cost, the core of the Lebanese problem and for reason cannot see how he could possibly qualify as an objective negotiator of a reasonable agreement to end the crises. The majority is assuming that if Iran and Syria have truly blessed the Arab initiative as they have publicly stated then Aoun will not be an issue any longer, because Hezbollah will decide for all the opposition.
On the other hand if Iran and Syria are publicly stating something and privately telling their allies something else then Amr Moussa will not be able to sell his plan here …he will be wasting his time…he will need to go to Damascus and Tehran instead.