Berri Optimistic on Decision to Reject War, Says Parliament Should Continue to Legislate

Speaker Nabih Berri has said that the different Lebanese factions reject sliding into a new civil war despite the fighting that has rattled the northern city of Tripoli in the past week.

In remarks to several local newspapers published on Monday, Berri said: “The different Lebanese (parties) have a conviction not to return to war and repeat the black and deadly experiences that all of them have witnessed despite some separate incidents.”

“There is a big decision not to go back to the nightmare of war,” he said.

Berri stressed, however, that the deadly fighting between rival gunmen from the neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in Tripoli “should stop as soon as possible because no one will benefit from it.”

Scores of people have been killed and injured in separate rounds of fighting between the two districts, a direct spillover of the Syrian war.

The residents of Bab al-Tabbaneh are Sunni and back Syria's rebels while the majority of Jabal Mohsen is from the Alawite sect of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The latest bout of fighting erupted last Monday.

Asked about the failure to hold a parliamentary session over the boycott of several parliamentary blocs, Berri said: “The parliament is the top institution and its main function is to continue to legislate even if the government has resigned.”

The speaker said that he holds onto the constitution while other parties have not implemented it.

His remarks came after al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora warned from a “parliamentary power that seeks to overtake the country.”

But Berri refused to snap back at Saniora.

Al-Mustaqbal along with other March 14 blocs have boycotted several parliamentary sessions that the speaker has called for to discuss 45 items on the agenda.

They insist that parliament should only meet on emergency issues amid a resigned cabinet.