Berri Relieved at International Support for Hizbullah-Mustaqbal Dialogue

Speaker Nabih Berri has expressed comfort at the support of regional and major powers for the dialogue held between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement.

Berri told his visitors that he recently received a message of support from the Egyptian foreign ministry, in addition to the positive reactions from the U.S., Saudi and Iranian ambassadors.

Hizbulllah and al-Mustaqbal representatives met in Ain el-Tineh under Berri's auspices earlier this month.

They are expected to hold a second round of talks on January 5 to discuss the first item on the agenda which aims at limiting Sunni-Shiite tension linked to the civil war in Syria, al-Joumhouria daily said on Wednesday.

But Berri did not reveal whether the talks would focus on that particular item.

He only said his aide Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil will attend the meeting in Ain el-Tineh.

Among the issues that the rivals are expected to discuss during the coming rounds is the presidential deadlock.

“The election of a new president will automatically lead to the revival of the constitutional institutions,” Berri told his visitors.

Lebanon has been without a head of state since May when President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended.

Differences between the March 8 and 14 alliances have caused a lack of quorum at parliamentary sessions aimed at electing a new president.