Chicago Tribune

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Amid a deepening crisis that threatens the power of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew into Beirut unannounced Thursday and snubbed the pro-Syrian president while posing before cameras with some of his leading political opponents.

Rice also made it clear that the Bush administration would not shed any tears if reinvigorated efforts by its Lebanese allies succeeded in toppling Lahoud’s presidency.

“You need a presidency that looks forward, not back – and that defends Lebanese sovereignty,” Rice told journalists traveling with her to Lebanon. Her tour of the Middle East is expected to end Friday.

Despite the strong words, America’s top diplomat also clearly sought to avoid criticism that Washington is meddling in Lebanon’s internal affairs, declaring at a news conference, “It is up to the Lebanese people to decide who is going to govern this country.”

Lahoud is closely allied with the Syrian government. His term was extended by the parliament, under Syrian pressure, just before former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated Feb. 14, 2005.

Lahoud’s political war with the country’s slim, pro-Western majority has created a political stalemate that is crippling the fragile land on several fronts. Efforts to oust him have come up short, although Rice landed squarely in the middle of a new push Thursday.

Although Rice and senior members of her staff did not brief reporters about her private talks with Lahoud’s adversaries, those politicians seemed to receive some support from her visit.

Lahoud’s opponents boycotted a Cabinet meeting just hours after Rice left for Abu Dhabi, reinforcing their vow to see the president’s imminent removal, according to Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper. The Cabinet was denied the quorum it needed to meet, as Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamade declared, “Emile Lahoud is finished.”

Rice spent about four hours in Beirut under tight security, whisked from stop to stop in a motorcade of armored vehicles that wove through the seaside city at speeds reaching 70 mph and along streets largely blocked to other traffic.

Her first meeting was with the Maronite spiritual leader, Nasrallah Sfeir, a powerful political figure who could play a role in picking a future president.

Rice met separately with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, who is perhaps Lahoud’s toughest political opponent. She also held a joint session with Saad Hariri, son of the slain former prime minister, and Walid Jumblatt, the Druze leader who is yet another vocal critic of Lahoud.

The junior Hariri ran on an anti-Syrian platform in last year’s elections and stunned many when his allies gained a parliamentary majority.

Rice saw Lahoud when she came to Lebanon last summer, leading her to declare curtly Thursday, “I’ve met with him.”

She also made a brief, unscheduled visit Thursday with Nabih Berri, the parliamentary speaker who is widely viewed as a friend to Syria and a potential broker.

Lebanon began assuming a leading role in the Bush administration’s regional foreign policy after Rafik Hariri’s assassination. His murder sparked domestic and international outrage, creating political pressure that quickly led to the stunning withdrawal of Syrian forces that had occupied the country for almost three decades.

But ancient sectarian tensions, and scars carved by a brutal civil war that ended only in 1990, quickly re-emerged as Syria withdrew. More assassinations followed.

The extraordinary series of events has given the White House a chance to pursue several key goals in the Middle East simultaneously, including rallying the world against its adversaries in Syria while creating conditions it hopes could lead to the weakening of Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

After she left Beirut, Rice resumed the primary mission of her journey: trying to gain support from Arab allies for U.S. diplomatic efforts targeting the militant group Hamas, which swept to power in Palestinian parliamentary elections last month, and Iran’s nuclear program. She met in Abu Dhabi with the six foreign ministers whose nations make up the Gulf Cooperation Council.

But a joint statement from Rice and the group issued early Friday morning did not mention Hamas or Iran by name. It called on “all parties” committed to Middle East peace to embrace international agreements intended to create “a two-state solution.” And it vaguely referenced “nuclear proliferation in the area.”