March 14 Rejects Fruitless Dialogue that is Held for Appearances
March 14 MPs have rejected to become “false witnesses” in Speaker Nabih Berri’s renewed initiative to launch the national dialogue, saying the all-party talks would end up in the vicious cycle of Hizbullah’s arms.
In remarks to pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat published on Monday, MP Elie Marouni said that the March 14-led opposition “rejects to become the false witness of a dialogue that is called for by the March 8 forces.”
The lawmaker said the all-party talks would continue to revolve around Hizbullah’s weapons and the national defense strategy without any solution.
Marouni stressed that March 14 doesn’t reject dialogue but said the pro-government forces have bad intentions.
Another March 14 MP, Antoine Zahra, stressed that Hizbullah’s arms is the only remaining item on the agenda.
The Lebanese Forces is ready to participate in the dialogue if it was only going to focus on Hizbullah’s arms and the defense strategy, he said.
Opposition MP Butros Harb told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) on Monday that Berri re-launched efforts to hold the national dialogue because the country is in a crisis.
“But I think the parties involved are not ready to go back to the dialogue table unless previously reached agreements such as the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon are implemented,” he said.
“The dialogue would be useless if it is only held for appearances,” Harb told the radio station.
Last week, Berri held talks with al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora who has placed conditions on the dialogue’s resumption, namely the implementation of agreements reached during previous sessions, including those relating to the STL, the disarmament of bases outside the Palestinian refugee camps and the demarcation of the Lebanese-Syrian border.
He also said that Hizbullah’s arms are the only remaining topic to be discussed at the all-party talks.
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