Hariri Meets Berri: We Won't Tolerate Isolating Lebanon from Arab Environment and No One Can Drag Us to Strife

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri held talks Monday evening in Ain al-Tineh with Speaker Nabih Berri.

The talks were expected to focus on the faltering dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal and the latest tensions in the country in the wake of the row with Saudi Arabia, media reports said.

A joint statement issued after the meeting warned that “there has been a systematic campaign in recent days to inflame sentiments and incite citizens against each other in order to stir sectarian strife, implicate us in internal fighting and return us decades backwards.”

Accordingly, Berri and Hariri called on “opinion leaders in Lebanon, the religious and political leaders and all the media and cultural institutions” to “confront these suspicious campaigns and any attempt to stir strife, out of keenness on Lebanon and the Lebanese.”

State-run National News Agency ealier said that the two men discussed "the current situations and developments."

Berri threw a dinner banquet in Hariri's honor after the talks, NNA added.

Earlier on Monday, Hariri had noted that the election of a new president would resolve “50 percent” of the country's problems, while stressing that his camp will not tolerate “isolating Lebanon from its Arab environment.”

“The Lebanese are suffering nowadays from the obstruction of the presidential vote and from the deterioration of the social, health and environmental situations and the rest of the files,” said Hariri during a Center House meeting with a delegation of Akkar municipal chiefs and mayors.

“The absence of a president is the reason behind this situation and if we elect a president we would be resolving 50 percent of the problems, seeing as everything can be addressed inside state institutions,” he added.

Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended and Hariri launched late in 2015 a proposal to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency.

Hariri's initiative was however rejected by the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah, and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, the ex-PM's ally in the March 14 camp, has recently nominated Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun for the presidency in an apparent response to Hariri's move.

Separately, Hariri noted Monday that “the current political dispute is over Lebanon's role in its Arab environment.”

“We are keen on our Arab identity and we will not tolerate isolating Lebanon from its Arab environment,” the ex-PM stressed.

“The Kingdom (of Saudi Arabia) has only offered us good things and it has always stood by us. It supported us during the reconstruction process, it mediated to stop the civil war and it stood by us during the Israeli attacks,” Hariri said.

“We call on all those concerned in Lebanon to take the higher interests of the Lebanese into consideration and to stop the campaigns that harm Lebanon and its Arab role and subject it to unnecessary dangers,” the former premier went on to say.

He was referring to the latest row with Saudi Arabia that the kingdom has attributed to "hostile Lebanese positions resulting from the stranglehold of Hizbullah on the State" and alleged Hizbullah "terrorist acts against Arab and Muslim nations."

The kingdom started a series of measures against Lebanon and Hizbullah on February 19 when its foreign ministry announced that the kingdom was halting around $4 billion in military aid to the Lebanese army and security forces.

The kingdom later slapped sanctions on individuals and firms accused of ties to Hizbullah and advised its citizens against travel to Lebanon while urging those already in the country to leave it. Around 90 Lebanese citizens have also been fired from their jobs in Saudi Arabia, according to media reports.

Saudi Arabia has also linked its move to Lebanon's refusal to join the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in condemning attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran last month.

Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Tehran after demonstrators burned its embassy and a consulate following the Saudi execution of a prominent Shiite cleric, Nimr al-Nimr.

Later on Monday, Hariri held a meeting with a delegation of Beirut mayors.

“We reject the attempts to sow strife in Beirut that we witnessed in the past few days. If a certain party does not approve of a certain issue, there are several ways to express anger and dismay other than burning tires or blocking roads,” Hariri said.

He was referring to angry protests that Hizbullah supporters staged on Saturday and Sunday to protest a TV show that poked fun at Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The episode was aired by the Saudi-owned MBC channel and came amid rising tensions between the Iran-backed Hizbullah and Riyadh over the wars in Yemen and Syria.

“Our political rhetoric is clear and our behavior is well-known and we won't allow anyone to drag us into sectarian strife … We are keen on Beirut's security and the safety of its residents,” Hariri underlined.

Y.R.