The four Christian leaders who met in Bkirki on Tuesday disagreed on Hizbullah’s weapons, An Nahar daily said, but confirmed that the officials would meet again after the Christian-Muslim summit next month.
An Nahar said Wednesday that the meeting, which was held under the sponsorship of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, was calm. The dialogue began with remarks by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun who defended his alliance with Hizbullah and stressed the need to preserve it.
Full StoryFree Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun described the atmosphere at Tuesday’s Christian meeting as “positive and reassuring”.
He said after the movement’s weekly meeting: ““The ice was not broken, but a discussion that may turn into a dialogue was launched, and this is comforting to the Lebanese.”
Full StoryA meeting held between the country’s top Christian officials in Bkirki on Tuesday was “friendly,” said a statement released after the talks but failed to say when the foes would meet again.
The four leaders “discussed the proposed issues by differentiating between what is agreed on and what is subject to legal political differences in a democratic nation that respects freedoms and distinctions,” Bkirki spokesman Walid Ghayad said.
Full StoryLebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has unveiled that he won’t hesitate in shaking hands with his foes Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and Marada chief Suleiman Franjieh during the meeting of the country’s top Christian officials in Bkirki on Tuesday.
“Tuesday is another day. I will leave everything behind,” Geagea said in an interview with al-Joumhouria newspaper published Monday about his bickering with Aoun and Franjieh.
Full StoryPhalange Party leader Amin Gemayel has unveiled that talks between top Christian officials in Bkirki on Tuesday would upon other things focus on Hizbullah’s arms and stressed that one meeting is not enough to achieve “tangible” results.
In remarks to An Nahar newspaper on Monday, Gemayel said “a single meeting won’t lead to tangible and direct results” but stressed that holding the talks in Bkirki is “very beneficial” to “break the ice” between the bickering officials.
Full StoryAll eyes are turned to a meeting between top Christian leaders that is scheduled to be held in Bkirki on Tuesday amid hopes that the talks would expand to include more Christian officials in the future.
The meeting will be held between Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Michel Aoun, and Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh.
Full StoryThe meeting that will bring together Lebanon’s top Christian leaders in Bkirki next week does not have an agenda but would be followed by other meetings that could expand to include more officials, sources from the seat of the Maronite church said.
“There won’t be any agenda … because the meeting is considered an achievement and will be followed by other meetings that include more Christian” officials, the sources told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in remarks published Saturday.
Full StoryThe March 14 General-Secretariat has reportedly urged U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly to preserve Lebanon’s stability after the latest Syrian accusations of al-Mustaqbal movement’s involvement in funding a terrorist cell in Syria.
Connelly visited Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and March 14 General-Secretariat Coordinator Fares Soaid on Friday.
Full StoryLebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea had reportedly backed Nassib Lahoud, Butros Harb and Charles Rizk “as a last resort” for the presidency.
According to a WikiLeaks cable dated November 8, 2007 published by al-Akhbar daily on Wednesday, Geagea told then U.S. ambassador Jeffrey Feltman that the candidates he backed for the presidency are Lahoud, Harb and Rizk “as a last resort.”
Full StoryLebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted on Tuesday that a new Lebanese government will not bolster the Lebanese state, but it will instead support the March 8 camp “that likes to call itself a Resistance.”
He said: “We have not recognized it as a Resistance as no law has been approved in parliament to officially call it so.”
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