Prime Minister Fouad Saniora has welcomed a call from Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah not to allow Lebanon's political crisis to slide into armed conflict.
"These comments are a positive gesture," said Saniora.
Nasrallah has "over the past two days been rejecting any recourse to violence or arms" to resolve the political impasse, Saniora said, according to the premier's office. "We encourage and support these efforts."
In a speech to thousands of supporters gathered in the southern suburbs of Beirut for the Shiite festival of Ashoura on Tuesday, Nasrallah said: "The only solution for us, Lebanese, is through political dialogue."
"We refuse a recourse to arms ... The demands of the Lebanese Opposition are political, a settlement can only be political and we encourage any mediation efforts to reach such a solution," he said.
Nasralah said Hizbullah will "not be lured into using its weapons" against other Lebanese factions, and called for an independent judicial investigation to bring to justice culprits in the violence that swept Beirut last week.
"We underline our determination to avoid any collision" with other Lebanese parties, Nasrallah said, declaring that "I adhere to the just demands of the Opposition."
He called for the formation of "a state (government) based on cooperation … to steer Lebanon out of its crises."
Contacts have been under way with Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as the Arab League, since six ministers resigned from the Saniora cabinet in mid-November.
Hizbullah has since been spearheading a protest since Dec. 1 to demand a new government of national unity.
Four people were killed and more than 160 wounded Thursday in street clashes between government supporters and opponents that was sparked by a cafeteria quarrel at Beirut's Arab University (BAU) between Sunni and Shiite students.
As a precaution, two Lebanese universities due to reopen on Wednesday will stay closed until next Monday, authorities of the BAU and the state-run Lebanese University said.(Naharnet-AFP)
Beirut, 31 Jan 07, 07:52
3 comments:
I'm sorry but i have to criticize your seemingly sarcastic title for this piece, positive??? you write it with three question marks as though it really isn't positive, but what's not positive? nassrallah comes on and says that we should not adhere to violence, and he hints a return to dialogue afer it being shut out for so long, i can see nothing but positivity..im alwasy nuetral on the lebanese situation, but on this im with saniora in saying that nassrallah's comments were positive, as theyre exactly that.
ma t'oul foul laysir bil makyoul , being lebanese myself and seeing the vulnerability of people of the streets i am kind of skeptical but hoping ... big time...
anyways i hope all will go very wel , we need a stable strong lebanon so we could feel safe ... i hope all goes well.. i am positive but my subject title was sarcastic because i do not feel i know or predict what might happen... u agree with me it is unpredictable no?
of course,, way too unpredictable...none of the leaders, be it march 14 or 8th want civil war, but a third party is hitting all the right spots to endure it happens...be it syria, israel, america, iran...someone is fucking with us. our only hope is that all our leaders, from nassrallah to hariri, to siniora to geagea stay strong on their stance to keep peace
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