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Mustaqbal and Hizbullah: We Reject Gunfire on All Occasions and Under Any Excuse

Al-Mustaqbal movement and Hizbullah stressed Tuesday during their fifth dialogue session their rejection of gunfire “on all occasions” and “under any excuse,” four days after a fiery speech by Hizbullah's secretary-general was marred by heavy celebratory gunfire that sparked panic among the citizens of Beirut and its suburbs.

“The conferees underlined their rejection of gunfire on all occasions, in all Lebanese regions and under any excuse,” said the two parties in a joint statement issued after the talks in Ain al-Tineh.

The dialogue session comes in the wake of a public dispute between the two parties that followed Israel's assassination of six Hizbullah fighters in Syria's Quneitra and a retaliation in the occupied Shebaa Farms that killed two Israeli troops and wounded seven.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah delivered a fiery anti-Israel speech after the operation, in which he declared that his group “no longer recognizes the rules of engagement” in the conflict with Israel, the thing that was criticized by al-Mustaqbal bloc and its chief MP Fouad Saniora as a “hasty stance that disregarded the Lebanese people's will.”

Several Mustaqbal officials also slammed the celebratory gunfire that marred Nasrallah's speech, describing it as a form of intimidation.

However, the two parties emphasized in their statement that discussions will continue over several points “frankly and responsibly,” lauding a plan that got underway to remove the flags and banners of the two parties from Beirut and several other regions.

Hizbullah and Mustaqbal also discussed “the preparations for continuing the security plan” that got underway in April 2014, according to the joint statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, Hizbullah's al-Manar television had reported that the “negative atmospheres will not affect dialogue or the results that can be reached.”

“The issue of Sayyed Nasrallah's speech will be discussed during the dialogue session and Mustaqbal's delegation will raise the issue while Hizbullah's delegation will have an answer for each point,” al-Manar said.

Y.R.


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