Berri Holds 'Positive, Very Good' Meeting with Hariri

Speaker Nabih Berri announced Monday that his latest dispute with Prime Minister Saad Hariri has ended, after talks between the two leaders in Ain el-Tineh.

The Berri-Hariri meeting followed talks in Baabda with President Michel Aoun over the tensions with Israel in the wake of its large-scale air raids in Syria.

The National News Agency said the Speaker threw a lunch banquet in Hariri's honor and that they discussed the current situations and developments.

In remarks to MTV, Berri described the meeting with Hariri as “positive and very good,” announcing an end to a recent dispute with the premier.

“He surprised me by saying that he has not finalized his electoral alliances and lists until the moment,” the Speaker said.

Ties had been strained between Berri and Hariri after the latter, along with Aoun and the defense minister, signed a controversial decree granting one-year's seniority to a number of officers.

Berri and his aides insisted that the decree should have also carried the finance minister's signature.

That row was resolved after Aoun, Berri and Hariri agreed to let the finance minister sign a new decree merging the seniority decree with a promotions decree that Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil had refrained from signing as a response to Aoun and Hariri's move.