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Hizbullah, FPM Pacify Rhetoric amid Tensions among Various Parties

The leaderships of Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement have agreed to put an end to the media campaigns that strained the ties between the two allied parties in recent days, media reports said.

The two parties agreed “not to launch any negative stances against each other because the circumstances do not allow for any exchanges or wars of words,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

“Several phone calls were held between (FPM chief MP Jebran) Bassil and the head of Hizbullah’s Liaison and Coordination Committee, Wafiq Saqa, who agreed on pacification. Hizbullah put the agreement into action through issuing a statement stressing that ‘for the thousandth time, we reiterate that there are no Hizbullah sources or sources close to Hizbullah’ (who give statements to the press),” the daily added.

Hizbullah has also asked all its officials “not to attack Bassil” as the FPM chief instructed all FPM officials not to attack Hizbullah, al-Akhbar said.

Media outlets had quoted “Hizbullah sources” as saying that Bassil is to blame for the latest setback in the government formation process which was related to the nomination of Jawad Adra as a consensus Sunni minister. FPM sources meanwhile said the setback was aimed at harming President Michel Aoun’s tenure.

Separately, al-Akhbar reported tensions between Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and each of Speaker Nabih Berri and Druze leader Walid Jumblat in connection with Hariri’s bid to redistribute some ministerial portfolios.

It also reported tensions between Hariri and Bassil, saying the PM-designate believes that the FPM chief is “seeking to create further obstacles that would thwart the formation of the government.”


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