Report: Berri-Bassil mediation underway amid FPM rift over army chief

Some parties have launched a mediation between Speaker Nabih Berri and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil after the latter criticized the Speaker’s call for dialogue, a media report said.

The mediation “has been welcomed by Hezbollah,” ad-Diyar newspaper reported on Wednesday, noting that “the two parties have not refused to meet, despite the presence of political obstacles between them.”

Separately, the daily said reported a rift within the ranks of the FPM over the presidential nomination of Army chief General Joseph Aoun.

“Some Strong Lebanon bloc MPs called General Aoun to express their support for his election as president, after Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab expressed his rejection of Aoun’s election during a TV interview,” the newspaper added.