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Saniora Says March 14 Standing Firm against Hizbullah Threats

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora reiterated his call for the formation of a non-political cabinet after he accused Hizbullah of launching an intimidation campaign against the March 14 alliance.

In remarks published in As Safir daily on Saturday, Saniora said Hizbullah should form a cabinet in which the March 8 and 14 alliances would get 9 ministers each and centrists six “if it was able to do so.”

Such formulas have not succeeded in the past, Saniora said, adding “we will not follow their dictates.”

He reiterated his call for a transitional government made of non-political figures that deals with the people's daily affairs and shies away from controversial issues.

“We are standing firm,” he said, adding “our hands are extended to our partners at all times.”

Saniora criticized recent statements made by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc leader MP Mohammad Raad.

These statements “make us more steadfast in our views,” he said.

Al-Mustaqbal has been insisting on Hizbullah's withdrawal from Syria and commitment to the Baabda Declaration as conditions to the formation of the cabinet.

Hizbullah members have been helping Syrian President Bashar Assad's troops fight rebels seeking to topple him.

“We are not putting a ban on Hizbullah in the cabinet but we don't accept it as a partner before it returns from Syria,” Saniora told his visitors on Friday.


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