Berri Holds onto Hizbullah-Mustaqbal Dialogue despite Tension

Speaker Nabih Berri held onto the dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal officials despite the rising tension between them as a result of a Saudi aid cut.

Berri told his visitors on Sunday that the talks have no other alternative.

According to As Safir daily published Monday, the adviser of Hizbullah chief, Hussein Khalil, Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, who is from Berri’s Amal movement and, Nader Hariri, the adviser of the Mustaqbal leader have agreed to meet again.

The last dialogue session that they held under Berri’s sponsorship in Ain el-Tineh was on Wednesday night.

But the meeting was limited to them. Previous talks used to be attended by more representatives from the two parties.

The newspaper said that the next round of talks could be between 16 and 20 March.

As Safir also quoted Mustaqal leaders as saying that a meeting, which is expected to be held between Berri and al-Mustaqbal chief Saad Hairri, would give a new impulse to the dialogue.

Tension rose last week between the Mustaqbal-led March 14 alliance and the Hizbullah-dominated March 8 camp after Saudi Arabia announced that it would cut $4 billion in aid to the Lebanese army and security forces.

Riyadh's decision came in retaliation to Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil's rejection to support Saudi resolutions against Iran during two recent meetings of Arab and Muslim foreign ministers.

Bassil is an ally of Hizbullah, which is backed by Iran.

Travel warnings issued by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar this week further exacerbated the situation.

The Gulf countries also urged their citizens already in Lebanon to leave.

G.K.

D.A.