Speaker Calls on Officials to End 'Provocative' Stances

Speaker Nabih Berri called on Wednesday officials to halt the strong rhetoric and not to adopt any escalatory provocative stances.

“We should all be wise to overcome the difficult stage that Lebanon is passing through,” Berri said during his weekly meeting with lawmakers at Ain al-Tineh.

He expressed concern over the “extremism and intolerance in Lebanon and the region.”

Berri reiterated before his visitors the importance of dialogue and calm rhetoric to avoid further deterioration on local levels.

The lingering political crisis in Lebanon has deepened the rift between the March 14 alliance, which backs the revolt in Syria, and the March 8 coalition, which supports the Damascus regime, after the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Wissam al-Hasan on October 19.

The opposition boycotted political activity with its foes after it blamed Prime Minister Najib Miqati's government of covering up the crime, calling on it to step down, and said it would not sit at the same dialogue table with Hizbullah.