CAIRO, March 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Visiting Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said Thursday the kingdom did not have any initiative to solve the Syria-Lebanon crisis.

   Speaking to reporters ahead of an Arab foreign ministers' meeting, Faisal said the meeting would not discuss the matter at the request of Syria.

   "The meeting will discuss how to promote a common mechanism to deal with challenges facing the Arab world," he said.

   Sources close to the Arab League said Arab foreign ministers held intensive discussions on Syrian-Lebanese ties Wednesday night.

   Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was expected to visit Saudi Arabia in the next 48 hours for emergency talks over Lebanon, leading Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadh said Wednesday.

   After the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, Syria has been under increasing international pressure to withdraw its 14,000 troops from Lebanon.

   In an interview published by the Time magazine on its website on Tuesday, Assad made indications, for the first time, that Syria was considering a total withdrawal from Lebanon soon.

   "It should be very soon and may be in the next few months. Not after that," Assad said.

   However, the Syrian leader declined to give a definite timetable for the pullout, saying it depended on technical issues rather than political considerations.  Enditem