March 14: Nasrallah’s Suggestion is Blow to Suleiman’s Dialogue Call
March 14 general-secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid said Saturday that Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s statements dealt a blow to President Michel Suleiman’s invitation for dialogue.
Nasrallah called on Friday for the creation of an elected or appointed constituent assembly to build a strong state and end sectarian divisions. He urged Suleiman to weigh the creation of such an assembly during the National Dialogue that is set to be held at Baabda palace on June 11.
Soaid told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that there are two contradictory suggestions in the country.
The March 14 opposition calls for abiding by the Taef Accord to resolve the country’s crises and the issue of Hizbullah’s arms while the other team backed by Nasrallah’s party calls for sidestepping the agreement and acquiring constitutional authorities in return for handing over the weapons.
Soaid also told An Nahar daily that Nasrallah’s remarks suggest the “sidestepping of the 1943 National Pact and the Taef Agreement which became Lebanon’s constitution after costing us 120,000 lives, 240,000 injured and 10,000 missing” during the 1975-1990 civil war.
The March 14 official said Lebanon is still suffering from the repercussions of the civil war. “Consequently, he (Nasrallah) is pushing us towards the unknown.”
Suleiman called for the National Dialogue following deadly gunbattles in Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli.
The Hizbullah-led March 8 forces have backed the initiative while the March 14 forces stressed that any dialogue should be held under a neutral salvation government and not the cabinet of Premier Najib Miqati.
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