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BEIRUT: Superstition Spurs 13th Delay Of Policy Statement

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  • BEIRUT: Superstition Spurs 13th Delay Of Policy Statement

    SUPERSTITION SPURS 13TH DELAY OF POLICY STATEMENT
    By Hussein Abdallah

    Daily Star
    Aug 1 2008
    Lebanon

    BEIRUT: Information Minister Tarek Mitri said on Thursday that the
    ministerial committee in charge of drafting a policy statement for
    the new government has almost reached an agreement on the final draft
    of such statement.

    Mitri told reporters at the Grand Serail after the 13th meeting of the
    committee that a final meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday after
    which the government will be ready to sit for a vote of confidence in
    Parliament. "Some parties have their reservations about terminology
    issues in some parts of the ministerial statement, but we are positive
    that all obstacles will be overcome by Friday," Mitri said.

    "Had I not been sure about that I would not have said that Friday's
    meeting will be the committee's last meeting," the minister added.

    Asked why such obstacles have not been dealt with by the committee on
    Thursday, Mitri said that reaching an agreement in the 13th meeting
    was bad omen. "We did not want to have everything done in the 13th
    meeting since many people are pessimistic about the number 13."

    Meanwhile, well-informed sources told The Daily Star on Thursday that
    the committee had agreed on the phrases that will be used regarding
    the issue of "the resistance."

    The sources said that the ministerial statement will likely emphasize
    on the resistance's historical role, sacrifices, and its achievements,
    the last of which was liberating all Lebanese prisoners in Israeli
    jails.

    The sources added that the statement will also recognize the right
    of the Lebanese people to resist Israeli occupation, while stressing
    the role of the Lebanese state in protecting Lebanon's sovereignty
    and independence and providing security for all Lebanese citizens.

    The committee met at the Grand Serail Thursday evening shortly after
    a brief meeting between Labor Minister Mohammad Fneish (Hizbullah)
    and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

    Fneish left the government headquarters after the meeting with Siniora
    and joined the committee's meeting later after holding consultations
    with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Hizbullah's leadership.

    Upon his return to the Grand Serail, Fneish told reporters that
    the committee was very close to reaching an agreement over the new
    ministerial statement.

    Earlier on Thursday, a Hizbullah delegation, made up of Fneish and
    Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's political aide Hussein
    Khalil, held two separate meetings with Siniora and Berri as part of
    efforts to facilitate an agreement over the new ministerial statement.

    Meanwhile, Minister of State Youssef Taqla, also a member of the
    ministerial committee, said after meeting Lebanese Forces leader
    Samir Geagea that the committee was likely to finish with drafting
    the new ministerial statement on Thursday.

    Geagea also received at his residence in Maarab President Michel
    Sleiman's political adviser Nazem Khoury, who told reporters after
    the meeting that the issue of Hizbullah's possession of arms would
    be among the major issue that will be dealt with in the upcoming
    national dialogue to be organized by the president.

    "The defense strategy will be a main item on the agenda," he said

    Khoury noted that the dialogue is not related to President Michel
    Sleiman's upcoming visit to Damascus and said that preparations for
    the dialogue are under way.

    Sleiman is expected to visit Damascus to discuss bilateral ties between
    Lebanon and Syria after Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem delivered
    an invitation for the Lebanese president from his Syrian counterpart
    Bashar Assad.

    Khoury also visited the Armenian Tashnak Party on Thursday and
    discussed with MP Hagop Pakradounian the prospects of the upcoming
    national dialogue.

    On Wednesday, the ministerial committee met for the twelfth time but
    failed to reach agreement, with Mitri saying the discussions revolved
    around the phrasing of the document.

    "Hopefully I will read a statement to you that is as clear as
    sunshine," Mitri said, adding that the committee would meet again
    on Thursday.

    The government will officially take office only after a parliamentary
    vote of confidence on the policy statement.

    The cabinet, in which the opposition has the right of veto, was formed
    on July 11 after weeks of bickering, despite a May power-sharing
    agreement struck in Qatar that ended a protracted political dispute.

    "The socio-economic issues have been settled, the stumbling block is
    the issue of Hizbullah's weapons," said a member of the ministerial
    committee drafting the statement.

    The Hizbullah-led opposition insists on including a phrase
    acknowledging the "right to resist" Israel, while the parliamentary
    majority insists on wording that indicates that only the state can
    make decisions of war and peace.

    "No single party has a monopoly on the right [to resist], or imposing
    its own methods and choices without taking into account the principle
    of preserving the state," Siniora said in a statement on Thursday.

    Meanwhile, Hussein Khalil said after meeting Free Patriotic Movement
    leader MP Michel Aoun on Thursday that there will be no ministerial
    statement without "the resistance." "There is no Lebanon without the
    resistance ... and to be short I will tell you that there will be no
    ministerial statement without the resistance," he told reporters.

    The controversy over Hizbullah's weapons intensified after its
    fighters captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid in
    July 2006 and the Jewish state responded to the border incident by
    launching a devastating 34-day war on Lebanon.

    The issue boiled to the surface again when Hizbullah led an armed
    takeover of large swathes of predominantly Sunni west Beirut in
    fierce fighting in May that left at least 65 people dead. - additional
    reporting by Nafez Qawas and AFP
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