Berri Optimistic on Dialogue, Says Hizbullah and Mustaqbal Committed to 1701
Speaker Nabih Berri has said that the dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal is putting a foundation for future plans, stressing that the two parties hold onto U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.
The dialogue, which is being held under his sponsorship in Ain el-Tineh, is based on “honesty,” Berri told al-Mustaqbal newspaper in an interview published on Thursday.
The discussions are being followed by the implementation of decisions, he said.
“We aspire for more and for what's in the country's best interest. But I believe that through the dialogue in Ain el-Tineh we are putting a foundation for other things,” added Berri.
Asked if the fifth round of talks between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal representatives earlier this week dealt with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, Berri said that both parties are fully committed to it.
“The conferees discussed Resolution 1701 and they unanimously reiterated that they hold onto it,” he told the newspaper.
Controversy erupted last week when Hizbullah fighters fired a salvo of anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military convoy in the Shebaa Farms area, killing two soldiers and wounding seven.
Israel responded with shelling, resulting in the death of a Spanish peacekeeper with the United Nations Interim Force in southern Lebanon was killed in the exchange.
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday condemned "in the strongest terms" the killing of the peacekeeper.
Russia blocked a French-drafted press statement that would have condemned the Hizbullah attack on the Israeli soldiers as a violation of Resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 war as well as the death of the Spanish peacekeeper, saying it was "unbalanced."
Several Lebanese officials have come in support of Hizbullah, saying it did not violate the resolution when it attacked the Israeli soldiers because the assault took place in occupied territories.
“There is concern about Israel's attack on Lebanon and its violation of 1701,” Berri told al-Mustaqbal.
He also criticized the Jewish State for claiming that it respects the resolution at a time when its warplanes overfly the South and Beirut.
Asked about measures to implement a security plan in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Berri said: “The plan is settled and all military and security forces have been given instructions” into implementing it.
However, he blamed the latest terrorist attacks on the army in the past week on the delay in the implementable of the plan, which needs the availability of 2,000 to 3,000 personnel.
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