BEIRUT: Syrian President Bashar Al Assad is to visit Lebanon tomorrow along with Saudi King Abdullah amid fears of renewed conflict in the tiny Mediterranean country, a top government official said yesterday.
"We have been informed that he is expected to travel to Beirut with the king," the official said.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Syrian government.
Al Assad's visit will be his first since the 2005 assassination of ex-Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, when relations between Damascus and Beirut took a sharp downturn.
At the time, Syria was widely blamed for the murder, but it has consistently denied any involvement.
Relations have been on the mend since 2008 when diplomatic ties were established and Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain leader, has made four trips to Damascus in the past eight months.
Al Assad will be travelling to Beirut along with the Saudi monarch who is due in Damascus today as part of a regional tour that will also take him to Jordan. Yesterday he was visiting Egypt.
Also coming will be the Amir of Qatar, Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
The diplomatic ballet is widely seen as an attempt to ease tensions after Hizbollah said last week that the UN tribunal probing Hariri's murder was set to indict members of the militant Shi'ite party.
The announcement prompted fears of a new conflict between powerful Hizbollah and its Saudi-backed Sunni rivals similar to the one that shook the country in 2008.
Hizbollah is supported by Syria and Iran.
There is also concern a new conflict might be looming between Hizbollah and Israel, which in recent months has accused the party of stockpiling weapons in preparation for a new war.
The two archfoes fought a devastating war in 2006 that left much of Lebanon's infrastructure in ruins.
"I think the next two weeks will be crucial," said Shadi Hamid, research director at the Brookings Doha Centre, a think-tank.
"There is a risk of escalation of sectarian violence.
"All players involved realise that risk. They are taking pre-emptive action to defuse things before they get out of hand in the next weeks and months," he said.
Hariri and 22 others were killed in a massive bombing on February 14, 2005.
The killing sparked international outcry and forced Damascus to withdraw its troops from its neighbour following a 29-year presence.
The UN tribunal set up to investigate the assassination is expected to issue indictments in the case by year-end.
Saudi-Syrian ties deteriorated after Hariri's murder but have since warmed, with Riyadh playing a key role in the recent rapprochement between Al Assad and Hariri.
The Syrian President last visited Lebanon in 2002 when he attended an Arab summit.
