Berri Vows to Prevent National Dialogue Leaks to Media
Speaker Nabih Berri expressed regret on Wednesday that parts of the minutes of the national dialogue session were leaked to the media, saying he would exert efforts to keep the discussions confidential.
In remarks to several newspapers, Berri said the leaks reflect negatively on the atmosphere of dialogue, adding he would discuss the issue with the concerned officials “in the hopes that we would succeed in preventing the leaks that hit the privacy of the discussions and the confidentiality of deliberations.”
The tit-for-tat sectarian abductions in the northern region of Akkar were enough to resume the national dialogue, he said.
Sixteen leaders met at Baabda palace under President Michel Suleiman on Monday after the security situation in northern Lebanon threatened to push Lebanon to the brink of civil war.
Deadly gunbattles between rival armed groups in the Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen pushed Suleiman to invite the leaders to the all-party talks after the fighting was seen as a spillover of the Syrian crisis into Lebanon.
The resistance “is our honor and there is nothing awkward in discussing the defense strategy to safeguard Lebanon against the Israeli dangers,” Berri told the dailies.
His comments came after the opposition al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc said the national dialogue would be useless unless Hizbullah’s arms were addressed at the next session on June 25.
A statement issued after the all-party talks on Monday said the defense strategy would be the main topic of discussion in that session.
Meanwhile, Berri’s deputy Farid Makari, who is an opposition member, told An Nahar daily that the March 14 coalition rejects a differentiation between Hizbullah’s arms and the weapons spread in Lebanese cities and towns.
“The state would rise if the issue of all illegitimate arms is resolved,” he said.
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