Saudi-Syrian Understandings: "Hezbollah's arms in exchange foe 'free hand' in Economy..."

MEMRI translated 2 reports in Al Hayat & As Safir: Capsule:

"The Saudi London daily Al-Hayat and the Lebanese pro-Syrian daily Al-Safir have reported on continued coordination between Syria and Saudi Arabia on the issue of Lebanon, and on reinforcing understandings reached between them on the eve of the Lebanese parliamentary elections.

According to the understandings, Syria would not interfere in the elections.

The two papers reported that the understandings also facilitated the recent closeness between Syria and Egypt.

Also in the understandings, the Lebanese coalition, headed by Sa'd Al-Hariri, would not discuss Hizbullah's weapons, and would allow continuation of the resistance, in exchange for freedom of action for the March 14 Forces in the country's economic affairs.

Al-Safir quoted an element who recently visited Saudi Arabia and presented the possibility that Syria and Saudi Arabia would divide the influence in Lebanon between them, while Al-Hayat reported that at the end of the Lebanon elections, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad stressed to Saudi King Abdallah that Syria had met all its obligations, and stressed the understandings between them.