LIBAN 9 mai

Major "Beirutee" Figures Lash Out at Saniora and Team

Hanan Awarekeh 0

09/05/2008 Lebanese Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri followed up Friday the latest developments in the country and received a series of telephone calls in the framework of easing down tension. Of the main figures that contacted Berri are Qatari Vice Premier Abdullah Al-Ateyyeh, former PM Salim Hoss (currently in Cairo), British Prime Minister's Special envoy to the Middle East Michael Williams and French Chargé d'Affaires Andreh Parent. Prominent Sunni figure and head of the Islamic Labor Front Sheikh Fathi Yukon called on the ruling bloc to leave Lebanon because it was a source of misfortune on the country. In a statement issued by his office, Yukon accused the ruling bloc of replacing its Arab roots with the Zionist root and that it accepted US tutelage. The Sheikh also accused the ruing bloc of inciting hatred between the Lebanese and the Syrian people. Moreover, former Beirut MP Adnan Arakji accused the unconstitutional government of Fouad Saniora of dragging Beirut towards a struggle it could have avoided if it was not for the arbitrary decisions it had taken recently. Arakji stressed that no one monopolizes Beirut because "this capital of the resistance is for all the Lebanese. The former MP also called on the "Beirutees" not to doubt the Resistance or its leadership. For his part, former minster Abdul Rahim Mrad's Al-Ittihad Party issued a statement saying that the speech of Hezbollah General Secretary Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah was patriotic, honest and determined the nature of the ongoing political conflict. The statement added that “the ruling bloc’s attempt to give this conflict a sectarian characteristic is nothing more than a blatant exploitation of a Lebanese group in battles for the benefit of foreign interests.” The party also called for the resignation of the unconstitutional government and its ministers, the election of a president and the formation of a national unity government. The head of the National Dialogue Party Fouad Makhzoumi said that what is happening in Beirut confirms that what is needed is an instant halt to all attempts to ignite internal disputes among the Lebanese, "because they only lead to sectarian sedition and civil war."