NICOSIA, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades plans to undertake initiatives to help bring normalization and stability in Lebanon after Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri made an unannounced stopover on the eastern Mediterranean island, Cypriot government spokesman said on Wednesday.
"President Anastasiades will undertake some initiatives to promote normalization of the situation in Lebanon," government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said hours after the Cypriot President met Hariri for 45 minutes at Larnaca airport before Hariri flew to Lebanon.
Hariri formally submitted his resignation to President Michel Aoun after returning to Beirut but said he heeded his urge to stay in office to give time for discussions over the reasons for his decision.
Before returning to Lebanon, Hariri had a conversation in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who was in Cyprus a few hours earlier for a regional summit.
"We understand that they discussed issues concerning the need for stability in the region," Christodoulides said.
He added that Anastasiades will have conversations with foreign state leaders on the situation in Lebanon, but he did not give any details.
"Cyprus has a unique position in the region and is a member state of the European Union with excellent relations with all its neighbors. Our position is an advantage in our efforts to bring stability in Lebanon," he said.
Replying to questions Christodoulides said that Anastasiades has already had telephone conversations with foreign leaders and has received an invitation to visit Saudi Arabia.
"Diplomatic consultations are under way to fix the date for the visit... most probably before the end of the year," he said.
He also stated that developments in Lebanon are not only important in relation to the energy sector, following the discovery of natural gas deposits in the Levantine sector of the eastern Mediterranean, but also for the security of the entire region.
"These issues were discussed on Tuesday at the Cyprus, Greece and Egypt summit on Tuesday in Nicosia," he added.
Cyprus is one of the few countries with close ties with all Arab states and also Israel and is considered as a stable safe haven in a volatile region for people fleeing from war, such as the Lebanese strife of the 1970s.
