Saniora Responds to Berri: Hizbullah’s Arms Only Issue Left at Dialogue Table
Prime Minister Fouad Saniora stated on Wednesday that the Mustaqbal bloc’s call that Hizbullah’s arms be the only issue at the national dialogue table cannot be considered as a precondition seeing as this is the only issue left to be discussed at the table.
Saniora said in a statement: “We are all aspiring for the rise of the fair and capable state, which controls the arms and is able of confronting Israel.”
Furthermore, he defended the bloc’s call for the Arab League’s participation at the dialogue, saying that this was agreed upon by all the concerned sides prior to holding the talks.
The former premier asked: “Why haven’t the decisions of the dialogue been implemented, especially those on demarcating the Lebanese-Syrian border and tackling the possession of arms inside and outside Palestinian refugee camps?”
“Hizbullah’s arms is the only pending issue out of a number of matters proposed by Berri during his press conference on March 3, 2006, so why is he questioning our demand to return to his suggestions?” wondered Saniora’s statement.
“The Mustaqbal bloc believes that failure to resolve the case of Hizbullah’s weapons will hinder progress in any other matter,” it concluded.
On Tuesday, the bloc demanded that the party’s arms be the only article at the national dialogue’s agenda, adding that the Arab League should be present at the talks.
Speaker Nabih Berri criticized the Mustaqbal bloc’s call, noting: “The bloc had long considered dialogue to be the best way to solve disputes.”
The national dialogue was launched in spring 2006.
It was aimed at resolving disputes between the various political sides and devising a defense strategy for Lebanon, but the talks were interrupted by the eruption of the July 2006 war.
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