Hizbullah Delegation Visits Kataeb HQ, Says Dialogue Still Ongoing

A delegation from Hizbullah on Monday visited the headquarters of the Kataeb Party in Beirut's Saifi area to congratulate newly-elected party chief MP Sami Gemayel and the political bureau members.

The delegation was led by Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Ali Fayyad.

“There is dialogue between the Kataeb Party and Hizbullah and the sessions are being held every now and then,” Fayyad said after meeting Kataeb's officials.

“Maybe we need to tackle the Lebanese complications in a more thorough way,” he added.

“But dialogue is still ongoing and the Lebanese obviously need it in an urgent manner,” the lawmaker went on to say.

On April 11, al-Akhbar newspaper reported that Fayyad and Kataeb bloc MP Elie Marouni had agreed to “meet once every week to continue setting the agenda of dialogue between Kataeb and Hizbullah.”

The two parties “chose Fayyad and Marouni as their representatives, in a bid to reconcile viewpoints and reach common denominators,” the daily said.

The two MPs held “a series of meetings, continuing the rapprochement that had been launched by (Kataeb's) former minister Salim al-Sayegh and Fayyad,” it added.

On Sunday, Gemayel proposed that Lebanon's constitutional system be reexamined following “90 years of a structure that has only deepened sectarianism and divisions among the Lebanese.”

In June, Gemayel stressed that the army is capable of “repelling any terrorist attack on the border,” calling on Hizbullah to “to place its decisions in the hands of the Lebanese state as a first step.”

“We are realistic and we believe that the problem of Hizbullah's weapons cannot be solved with the push of a button,” Gemayel added.

“Hizbullah must leave the military decision to the Lebanese army, especially in the face of the takfiris,” he pointed out.

Gemayel also emphasized that Lebanese “unity” is needed in the anti-terror fight, noting that Hizbullah can't fight jihadist groups through a “sectarian” approach.

Y.R.

M.T.