Jumblat Urges Hariri to Return to Dialogue Table in 1st Phone Conversation in 2 Months
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has reportedly held a telephone conversation with Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri, the first contact between the two men since the Druze leader named Najib Miqati as premier-designate more than two months ago.
Pan-Arab daily al-Hayat quoted informed sources as saying on Tuesday that Jumblat called Hariri and stressed to him the need to return to the national dialogue table.
The PSP chief also told the caretaker prime minister during their phone conversation several days ago that contacts between different parties should continue despite differences between them, the sources said.
However, Hariri stressed to Jumblat that he wasn’t the reason behind the standstill in the national dialogue, adding he did not seek to “topple consensus,” in reference to Hizbullah and its allies.
The sources told al-Hayat that the importance of the phone conversation lies in the fact that it took place.
When asked by Voice of Lebanon radio station on the talks, al-Mustaqbal movement official Mustafa Alloush said: “Contacts between Hariri and Jumblat haven’t been fully severed.”
Hariri met with Qatar’s emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani in Doha on Monday following a visit to Riyadh.
The caretaker premier’s press office said the two men discussed bilateral ties and the latest developments in Lebanon. A source accompanying Hariri told Agence France Presse that the visit was not linked to the developments in the country.
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