Berri says personally seeking to prevent war expansion

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has noted that his Amal Movement is not involved in the ongoing confrontations in south Lebanon and that he is “personally seeking to prevent an expansion of the war.”

“There is communication between us and Hezbollah over maintaining the rules of engagement, knowing that since the beginning of the war Hezbollah has not breached the rules of engagement in its operations against the enemy’s army,” Berri said, in an interview with al-Joumhouria newspaper published Monday.

“It is exclusively focusing its attacks on the military posts and we support it in this, whereas Israel is the one violating the rules on daily basis through the expansion of its attacks and its recurrent targeting of civilians,” the Speaker added.

“We have no intention to expand the war, but if Israel begins a war and wages an aggression against Lebanon, things will become different then and we will confront it and make it see the wrath of God,” Berri went on to say.

As for the recent visits of several French envoys to Lebanon, the Speaker noted that “no one mentioned Resolution 1701 other than the Lebanese media.”

“Prior to the arrival of the envoys, I read about it several times in newspapers and the press and thought that they would raise it with me when they would meet with me, but French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian came and was followed by French external intelligence chief Bernard Emie, and none of them mentioned this issue in any way whatsoever,” Berri pointed out.