Berri in Geneva for Inter-Parliamentary Union Meeting, Urges Confronting 'Scheme Aiming to Fragment Region'

Speaker Nabih Berri on Sunday warned from Geneva that “the scheme aiming to tear apart a number of Arab states is still ongoing.”

“The winds that are lashing Libya, Egypt, Iraq and Syria put the region in a dangerous situation, which requires a responsible and firm stance in order to confront this scheme,” Berri said on the sidelines of the 129th Inter-Parliamentary Union conference in Switzerland.

During a meeting with Algerian Speaker Abdul Qader bin Saleh, Berri noted that there is “a scheme to fragment Syria and plunge it into sedition,” stressing that “a political solution is the only way to put an end to the Syrian crisis and the Syrians' plight.”

Berri also held talks with Kuwaiti National Assembly Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim, in the presence of the two countries' delegations.

“I want to reassure you that the security situation in Lebanon is among the best in the entire region, contrary to what is being told to our brothers in the Gulf. There is a decision at all levels in Lebanon that there will never be a return to civil war … that's why I was surprised by the decision of our brothers in the Gulf to (ask their citizens to) boycott Lebanon,” Berri told the Kuwaiti speaker, according to state-run National News Agency.

The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat has reported that Berri was expected to hold talks in Geneva with a number of heads of parliaments of Arab and foreign countries on the sidelines of the conference.

His discussions are likely to focus on Arab and international developments, it added.

The speaker participated in a preparatory meeting on Sunday for the Arab parliamentary union and the union of the parliaments of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference is scheduled to tackle the agenda of its March 2014 meeting.

The agenda will focus on eliminating nuclear arms from the world.

Berri is accompanied on his trip by MPs Abdul Latif al-Zein, Gilberte Zouein, and Elie Aoun.