Hariri Holds Talks with Aoun in Baabda
Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Thursday held talks with President Michel Aoun in Baabda, amid continuous efforts to resume cabinet sessions and resolve the crisis over the deadly Qabrshmoun incident.
The National News Agency said talks tackled “the general situations in the country, the outcome of the ongoing consultations and contacts over the repercussions of the Qabrshmoun incident, and the approval of the state budget in parliament.”
“Be optimistic,” Hariri told reporters after the meeting.
Al-Jadeed TV meanwhile reported that “there is an inclination to hold a cabinet session next week at a date to be set by PM Hariri.”
“The proposal suggested by Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat is being discussed and it is leading the negotiations,” al-Jadeed added.
Jumblat has proposed adjoining the cases of the Qabrshmoun and Choueifat incidents and referring them together to the Judicial Council.
LBCI television meanwhile said that “the Baabda meeting did not reach an agreement on holding a cabinet session but rather on continuing contacts to reconcile viewpoints over the issue of referring the Qabrshmoun incident to the Judicial Council.”
Two bodyguards of State Minister for Refugee Affairs Saleh al-Gharib were killed and a third was wounded in a clash with Progressive Socialist Party supporters in the Aley town of Qabrshmoun on June 30. The minister escaped unharmed as a PSP supporter was wounded.
Gharib and his party have described the incident as an ambush and an assassination attempt while the PSP has accused the minister’s bodyguards of forcing their way and firing on protesters.
Gharib’s party has insisted that the case should be referred to the Judicial Council, a demand opposed by the PSP and its allies.
The case has forced the suspension of cabinet sessions since July 2.
Source: Naharnet
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