Miqati Calls on Officials to Attend National Dialogue
Prime Minister Najib Miqati urged Lebanese leaders on Saturday to attend the National Dialogue session scheduled to convene on June 11, stressing that stability requires the resumption of all-party talks.
“We have to maintain Lebanon's stability through the resumption of the national dialogue,” Miqati told reporters.
He called on the Lebanese to seek unity among each other.
President Michel Suleiman called for the National Dialogue after the security incidents in the country threatened to spiral out of control.
The March 8 coalition that makes up the majority of the cabinet said it would attend the all-party talks but the March 14 coalition, which al-Mustaqbal movement is part of, hasn’t yet announced an official stance on its participation.
But the alliance said earlier this month that dialogue should be held under a neutral salvation government and not Miqati’s cabinet.
Miqati stressed that the cabinet will not resign, slamming those who are holding it responsible for the recent developments in the country.
“I am convinced that the defect isn’t in this cabinet,” the premier said.
He urged the Lebanese to be “honest” with each other in order to maintain stability and peace in the country.
Miqati pointed out that the current situation in Lebanon will not change even if the current government resigned as the Lebanese are always bickering among each other.
“We have to safeguard Lebanon from the repercussions” of the turmoil that the neighboring countries and the region is passing through.
Asked about the developments regarding the abduction of the 11 Lebanese pilgrims in the Syrian province of Aleppo, Miqati said that the cabinet is following up the case since day one with all sides.
“I hope that the Turkish efforts would hold good news in the upcoming hours,” he stated.
The premier returned on Friday from a two-day visit to Turkey where he held talks with his counterpart Recep Tayyib Erdogan, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon.
Erdogan stressed that Turkey would continue “intensive efforts” in order to secure the release of the pilgrims.
The whereabouts of the pilgrims remains unknown, however, a previously unknown armed group calling itself the "Syrian Revolutionaries -- Aleppo Province" announced Thursday that it is holding the Lebanese pilgrims who went missing in Syria on May 22.
"The kidnapped Lebanese are being looked after by us and are in good health," the group said in a statement received by Qatar-based satellite news channel al-Jazeera.
However, Abu Abdullah al-Halabi, the official spokesman for the “Syrian Revolutionary Council for Aleppo and its Countryside” denied on Friday that his council had anything to do with the group which claimed its responsibility for the kidnapping.
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