Berri Holds Banquet in Hariri's Honor, Local Files Core of Talks

Speaker Nabih Berri held a banquet Friday evening in honor of al-Mustaqbal chief Saad Hariri where several local issues were discussed.

The meeting between the two political leaders took place at Berri's residence in Ain al-Tineh in the presence of Hariri's adviser Nader Hariri and Berri's political aide Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil.

No information were released on the issues tackled at the meeting, but al-Liwaa daily on Saturday quoted visitors to Hariri as saying that “the only solution to solve all the difficulties starts with electing a president.”

Moreover, Hariri voiced hopes that discussions between Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun and the allies of al-Mustaqbal in the March 14 alliance, together with the dialogue ongoing with Hizbullah and the AMAL movement would open the door to electing a president, according to the daily.

Hariri considered that only dialogue leads to the desired solutions.

A new dialogue session, as part of a series, between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal is set to take place next week.

The meetings between the two parties kicked off on December 23 and aim at venting sectarian tension and solving a number of controversial files that the country is burdening, mainly the presidential vacuum.

On the other hand, efforts continue to bring the Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and the FPM chief Aoun to a meeting, as MP Ibrahim Kanaan visited Maarab on Friday where he discussed a letter of “good intentions.”

For his part, Hariri reiterated adherence to the government because he believes that any “substitute would only mean vacuum,” al-Liwaa reported.

Hariri had stressed in a speech on Thursday from the Center House in front of the Arab ambassadors accredited to Lebanon, that the “government will resume its activity soon in light of the contacts that I had with Prime Minister Tammam Salam.”

Political disputes between the various political factions on the government's mechanism led to the suspension of sessions in light of the vacuum at the top presidential post.

Lebanon has been living in a presidential vacuum since May when the tenure of Michel Suleiman ended. The conflict between the March 8 and March 14 camps has thwarted all efforts to reach a quorum at parliament to hold elections and end the vacuum.

D.A.

M.T.