| Good Lord! I hope he's not holding his breath! |
 UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen called yesterday for Lebanese elections to be held on time to avoid instability amid a Syrian pullout but said the disarming of the resistance group Hezbollah was not yet on the agenda. As talks over crucial legislative elections due by the end of May opened between pro-Syrian loyalists and the opposition, Roed-Larsen said the polls were "the most important instrument to safeguard the stability of the country." The UN envoy said the elections should "take place as scheduled in a free and fair manner" in Lebanon which has been thrown into political turmoil since the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri two months ago. He said the United Nations will later decide the "modalities and timeline" of a team to verify the completion of the Syrian pullout and was engaged in talks over the dispatching of international observers to the polls. |