Berri Says Roumieh Operation Result of Hizbullah-Mustaqbal Talks

Speaker Nabih Berri has said that the closure of the notorious block B of Roumieh prison east of Beirut was the result of the dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal that started last month.

“The operation at Roumieh prison came as a repercussion to the dialogue ... which proved that the state exists,” Berri told his visitors.

His remarks were published in several local dailies on Wednesday.

The transfer of Islamist detainees from block B to block D on Monday “required a political decision, which was implemented as soon as it was taken,” he said.

Block B was known as a virtual no-go zone for security forces, where prisoners had access to laptops, phones and money. Police closed it after investigators discovered that the weekend suicide bombing in the northern city of Tripoli had been planned from the prison.

According to Berri, the talks between the representatives of Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal will also have positive effects on the implementation of a security plan in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

“The dialogue hasn't touched on details but it put a threshold for limiting tension under which decisions are being taken to implement the security plan,” he told his visitors.

Berri hoped that the Hizbullah-Mustaqbal talks, in addition to a planned meeting between Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, who are presidential candidates, would lead to more stability and resolve the deadlock at Baabda Palace.

Lebanon has been without a president since May when Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended.

The third round of talks between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal will be held on Friday, Berri, who is the sponsor of the talks, said while stressing that it was up to the conferees to set the agenda.

In his weekly meeting with lawmakers on Wednesday, Berri reiterated that the “relatively positive atmosphere in Lebanon is the result of dialogue.”

He hoped for “more achievements and steps in all directions, mainly the presidential elections.”

He said that Tripoli would have witnessed tension following the weekend suicide bombing had there not been for the dialogue.

On Monday, Berri praised the residents of the mainly Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen for not making any vengeful acts against the Sunnis of Bab al-Tabbaneh.

Nine people were killed and more than 37 injured when two suicide bombers, who hail from Tripoli, blew themselves up at a packed cafe in Jabal Mohsen.

G.K.

H.K.