Occupation Of Palestinian Territories, Iraq Obstacles To Peace: Lebanese P.M.

MADRID, Sept 13 (AFP) - Only the end of the occupations of the Palestinian territories and Iraq will restore Arabs' trust in the rest of the world and pave the way to stability, visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri said Monday.
Hariri was speaking in the northeastern city of Barcelona as he accepted a "special citation" of the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honor Award for his contribution to the reconstruction of post-war Lebanon, at the start of the five-day World Urban Forum in Barcelona.
"The despair felt by every Arab struggling under the yoke of occupation and deprived of freedom, land and dignity engenders even more violence and deepens the rift between Arabs and the world," Hariri said, according to the text of his speech sent to AFP in Madrid.
"Our mission today is to eradicate despair and make peace a reality in Palestine and Iraq, so that trust and not scepticism reign again in our relations," he added.
"We want Iraq to recover its freedom, independence and its unity," he said, stressing that international plans for reconstruction and democracy in the Arab world are foundering "in the absence of freedom, stability and conducive political conditions."
Hariri later confirmed at a press conference that his government would resign by the end of this month, bringing to a head a political crisis over Syria's influence in the country's domestic affairs.
"It is appropriate for me to step down from the government before the end of the month so that parliament can decide whether it should reinstate me," Hariri said, quoted by the Spanish news agency Efe.