Hizbullah to Join Talks on National Unity Government, Jumblat Will Not
Naharnet News Desk - 27/10/2006
Jumblat prefers the "rectangular table" in Washington.
Hizbullah will join talks on a national unity government proposed by Speaker Nabih Berri in a bid to drag Lebanon out of a crippling political impasse, but Druze leader Walid Jumblat will not.
"Hizbullah welcomes the initiative launched by Speaker Berri and announces its readiness to take part in the envisaged meeting," said a statement released by Hizbullah on Thursday.
It said Hizbullah hopes that the meeting would lead to a "genuine patriotic political solution capable of moving Lebanon from its current political impasse and putting it on the road to the construction of a just and viable state."
Berri on Wednesday called for fresh talks across Lebanon's sectarian divide for consultations over a national unity government and reforming the country's electoral law.
Those two issues are key demands of Hizbullah, which fought a summer war with Israel, and General Michel Aoun, the party's close political ally.
While Aoun did not give a final say in the resumption of the national dialogue, he dubbed Berri's initiative as "positive."
Berri suggested that the talks, which would resume roundtable discussions held earlier this year, begin next Monday and last for a maximum of 15 days.
Hizbullah, with two ministers in the cabinet of the ruling anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, wants the inclusion of other political groups in government, particularly that of Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah issued a statement last Friday reiterating his call for a national unity government in what was seen as a bid to turn the popular acclaim his fighters won in their war with Israel into greater national political power.
Meanwhile, sources told An-Nahar daily on Friday that Druze leader Walid Jumblat would be in Washington October 30, the day the talks are scheduled to begin.
An-Nahar's correspondent in Washington said that Jumblat, a leading figure of the anti-Syrian March 14 Forces, will begin a visit to the U.S. capital, where he will meet Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and David Welch, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.
The leading Beirut paper quoted well-informed sources in Washington as saying that the U.S. officials want to hear Jumblat's evaluation of the Lebanese situation following the July-August Israel-Hizbullah war and the government's condition in the wake of political and security changes in the region.
The sources said that the officials were going to emphasize during their talks with Jumblat that developments in the region, especially in Iraq, would not "alter or diminish America's interest" in Lebanon.
The newspaper said that leaders of the March 14 Forces were expected to meet within the coming day or two to come out with a "final stand."
Premier Fouad Saniora has welcomed Berri's proposal, but voiced concern about the talks' agenda, suggesting additional items to be tackled during the discussions
|