Syrian President Bashar al-Assad welcomed on Saturday an ongoing national dialogue that brought together all political parties in neighboring Lebanon.

Voicing hope that the dialogue could conform to Lebanon's interest, Assad expressed his welcome in a speech at the opening ceremony of the 4th General Conference of Arab Parties.

Leaders of 14 Lebanese political parties, including pro- and anti-Syrian Muslim and Christian leaders sat together on Thursday for the dialogue aimed at tackling the recent eruption of political differences among the parties.

Three major issues, namely, the international probe into the killing of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, UN Resolution 1559 which calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah and Palestinian militias, and Lebanese-Syrian relations were expected to be discussed during the dialogue.

In the past two days, anti-Syrian leaders, including Saad al- Hariri, son of the assassinated former prime minister Hariri, and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt have led a call for ousting pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, which was opposed by the pro-Syrian Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun.

An agreement was needed on the successor of the president and his political program in case Lahoud chooses to resign voluntarily, the pro-Syrian side insisted.

The talks, held under Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, is expected to last about one week.

Syria has been under intense international pressure after the killing of Hariri in a car bombing attack in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005.

Damascus withdrew its troops from Lebanon in late April 2005, ending 29-year of military presence there.

Under the title of "Solidarity with Syria and Lebanon", the three-day Arab parties conference was kicked off on Saturday in the Syrian capital city Damascus, bringing together some 300 representatives of 110 parties from 16 countries in the region.

The agenda of the conference includes the latest developments in the region, particularly in Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Sudan.

Source: Xinhua