Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri announced Tuesday that his country supports any dialogue initiative that could pave the way for electing a new Lebanese president, “regardless of the events in the region.”
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia believes that the priority that Lebanon needs at the moment is enhancing unity among its citizens,” Asiri said after meeting Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh.
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Speaker Nabih Berri has said that both Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement agreed not to have preconditions on their expected dialogue on the crises gripping the country.
“This issue has been settled and is now behind us,” local dailies published on Monday quoted Berri as saying.
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Hizbullah has refrained from commenting on the recent Saudi Arabian remarks about listing the party as a terrorist group in anticipation of an upcoming meeting between Speaker Nabih Berri and Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.
It said that the speaker and ambassador are scheduled to meet on Tuesday.
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Speaker Nabih Berri blamed on Saturday the rival Maronite parties for the ongoing presidential vacuum, estimating that the elections could be staged in less than 36 hours if they agreed on a consensual candidate.
“I would retreat and hold a sit-in at the parliament until they head to the legislature,” Berri said in comments to An Nahar newspaper, saying that the sharp rift between the Christian rival parties is behind the ongoing vacuum.
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Prominent political figures are expected to head in the upcoming hours to Saudi Arabia to discuss with al-Msutaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri the latest local and regional developments.
According to An Nahar newspaper published on Saturday, the talks come in light of the presidential standstill and the efforts exerted to open communication channels between al-Mustaqbal and Hizbullah,
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Speaker Nabih Berri has denied preconditions were set for a dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement as he is exerting strong efforts to open communication channels between the rival parties.
Berri told his visitors on Thursday that he was preparing the agenda for the talks along with a similar measure taken by al-Mustaqbal.
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Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel expressed concern on Thursday over the “dangerous situation” imposed by the vacuum at the Baabda Palace, calling on the Lebanese arch-foes, in particular those behind the obstruction of the presidential elections, to assume their responsibilities.
“Lebanese factions shouldn't under any circumstances obstruct a national, legal, constitutional and political path,” Gemayel said in a lengthy interview with the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper. “It is an unforgivable sin.”
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Speaker Nabih Berri is still exerting efforts to launch dialogue between al-Mustaqbal movement and Hizbullah, amid “good intentions” from the two parties and support from centrist leader MP Walid Jumblat.
Berri will maintain “his coordination with MP Walid Jumblat for launching dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement, because that would reflect positively on the general situations,” MPs quoted the speaker as saying after the weekly Wednesday meeting in Ain al-Tineh.
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The presidential election session was postponed for the sixteenth time on Wednesday following a lack of quorum at parliament as Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea reiterated his accusation that the Change and Reform bloc was obstructing the polls.
Speaker Nabih Berri scheduled the new electoral session for December 10.
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Speaker Nabih Berri has expressed regret that the parliament will once again Wednesday fail to elect a new president despite the “positive signs” that had emerged on the crisis.
Parliament is scheduled to convene to elect a successor to President Michel Suleiman whose six-year term ended in May.
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