By NNN-KUNA
Beirut : Chairman of the Arab Interim Parliament (AIP) Mohammad Jassem Al-Saqer has urged leaders of the Lebanese political forces to return to dialogue in order to achieve national reconciliation.
“I call on the Lebanese leaders to enter a substantive dialogue and restore national reconciliation on the basis of the Arab League initiative,” Al-Saqr told KUNA Tuesday.
He made the remarks following his meeting with Lebanese Druze leader and chairman of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt, Minister of Information Ghazi Al-Aridi and MP Akram Shuhaib.
“The initiative, though practical and helpful, failed to receive the desired response from the Lebanese parties,” he said.
“The Lebanese government and opposition recognise the importance of preserving security countrywide.
“This fact can provide the ground for fruitful dialogue,” he pointed out.
Al-Saqr and his party met earlier Tuesday with Lebanese army chief General Michel Suleiman, president of the Phalanges Party Amir Al-Gemayel, and Christian Maronite Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir.
They also met Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora, Deputy Secretary General of Hezbollah Sheikh Naeem Qassim, and MP George Adwan of the Lebanese Forces.
Al-Saqr hailed as “positive” the contacts with Lebanese political leaders. The contacts focused on the presidential standoff between both sides of the Lebanese political divide.
“The crisis in Lebanon has negative impacts on the situation in the Middle East as a whole,” he warned. “All efforts must focus on solving the presidential crisis,” he said, voicing pessimism over the possibility of holding the presidential vote on March 25.
Al-Saqr, who arrived here on Monday for a visit to Lebanon, is scheduled to meet Siniora again, and chairman of the Free Patriotic Movement Michel Aon on Wednesday. He leads an AIP delegation including AIP deputy chairman Mustafa Al-Fiqi, chief of the AIP Committee on Foreign and Political Affairs and National Security Mohammad Hassan Al-Amin and AIP Assistant Secretary General Talaat Hammad.
The aim of the visit is to bring together the leaders of Lebanese political parties to a conference on national reconciliation.