Berri denies proposing 'president-for-1701' deal

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has dismissed reports alleging that he had proposed Hezbollah’s “implementation of Resolution 1701” in return for the election of a pro-Hezbollah president.

In an interview with Asharq al-Awsat newspaper published Tuesday, Berri also snapped back at Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.

“We do not give up a single meter of the land of the south or Lebanese territory in return for obtaining the highest state posts,” he stressed.

Berri also revealed that former U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea had told him during her farewell visit that U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein would return to Beirut in mid-January to mediate between Lebanon and Israel over the land border and the implementation of Resolution 1701.

“We are ready to implement it as of today, but Israel is the one obstructing its implementation ever since it was issued by the U.N. Security Council,” the Speaker lamented.

He added that “its implementation should begin by Tel Aviv’s withdrawal from the B-1 point that lies in Ras al-Naqoura, which it had occupied prior to its pullout from Lebanon in the year 2000.”

Berri also expressed concern over “the Israeli enemy’s continued targeting of safe villages and its attempt to drag the resistance into an open war,” while emphasizing that “Lebanon will not be dragged into it.”