Officials: No Breakthrough in Hizbullah-Mustaqbal Dialogue

The 15th round of talks between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal Movement that lasted until dawn Tuesday failed to reach a breakthrough on controversial issues, officials told al-Mustaqbal daily.

The officials, who were not identified, said the talks started at 10:00 pm Monday and lasted till 1:00 am during which several issues were discussed.

The dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal was launched in December under the sponsorship of Speaker Nabih Berri to reduce sectarian tension linked to the war in neighboring Syria.

Hizbullah representatives Hussein Khalil, Minister Hussein al-Hajj Hassan and MP Hassan Fadlallah attended the talks. Al-Mustaqbal was represented by Nader Hariri, Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq and MP Samir al-Jisr.

Minister Ali Hassan Khalil attended the Ain el-Tineh meeting as Berri's representative.

Following the talks, the conferees issued a terse statement saying they “discussed the political and security developments, the work of constitutional institutions and the steps needed to be taken in that regard.”

The statement added that the two sides agreed to “consolidate dialogue between all factions to resolve current matters.”

But the Mustaqbal sources said no major progress was made on several issues.

The only thing they agreed on is to hold a new round of talks at the start of July, said the sources.