Berri Says Weapons Will Not be Discussed, Jumblat Welcomes his Calls for Dialogue
Speaker Nabih Berri said on Friday that his suggestion on resuming the national dialogue should focus on discussing the situation in the northern city of Tripoli, stressing that if needed, the dialogue could discuss other issues.
“The (suggested) national dialogue will not tackle the arms that are apparently widely spreading in various places” across Lebanon, Berri told As Safir.
The speaker held talks on Thursday with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri on the possibility of calling the leaders of the national dialogue committee to a meeting under the chairmanship of President Michel Suleiman that would “at least discuss” the latest unrest in Tripoli.
Berri told the daily that “the situation in Tripoli requires a radical solution.”
The speaker dispatched his advisor Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil to Clemenceau to tackle with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat the possibility of resuming the all-party talks.
Jumblat welcomed Berri’s suggestion, expressing hope that launching dialogue over the recent developments in Tripoli would set the agenda for broader talks.
He stressed that he is keen to maintain the good and strategic relations with the speaker as he is the “guarantee for stability and dialogue.”
Asiri held talks on Thursday also with Jumblat and discussed with him the latest developments.
Clashes sparked over the weekend in Tripoli between the mainly Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Alawite Jabal Mohsen after the General Security Department detained Islamist Shadi al-Mawlawi on charges of belonging to a terrorist group.
Sectarian clashes between residents of the two districts earlier this week left nine people dead and some 50 wounded and raised fears that the revolt in Syria could engulf its tiny neighbor.
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