Sources: Nasrallah to Change Speech after BIEL Ceremony

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to introduce changes to his address during a ceremony that will be held in honor of the party's “martyred leaders” on Tuesday.

Informed political sources said a speech that al-Mustaqbal Movement chief Saad Hariri gave in BIEL on Sunday will change the content of Nasrallah's address.

The sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper published Monday that Nasrallah had been lately avoiding to give details on the stalled presidential elections.

But Hariri said in his speech on the 11th anniversary of the assassination of his father ex-PM Rafik Hariri that his priority is the election of a new president to end the 21-month deadlock.

He also implicitly voiced support for Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh for the country's top post.

Hariri lashed out at Hizbullah, without naming it, over its involvement in Syria's war.

Nasrallah, in his televised speech, is expected to snap back at Hariri and warn against the dangers of a Saudi-Turkish involvement in northern Syria.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia -- leading supporters of the rebels battling to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad – have said they were open to sending ground troops into Syria to battle the Islamic State group.

Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, also said Saturday that Saudi Arabia is "ready to send both jets and troops" to Turkey's Incirlik air base.

G.K.

D.A.