BEIRUT: The Future Movement and Hezbollah Friday voiced support for government measures that shield the country against growing threats linked to the war in Syria.
In a statement issued after a third round of talks, the two rival influential parties also said they had made “clear progress” in defusing sectarian tensions that can help bolster stability as Lebanon faces security challenges as a result of the fallout of the Syrian conflict.
Discussions between senior officials from the Future Movement and Hezbollah covered “security and political developments that happened during the past week and the positive assessment of the impact of the ongoing dialogue on them,” said a statement issued following a four-hour meeting hosted by Speaker Nabih Berri at his Ain al-Tineh residence.
The two sides stressed the need to protect “national decisions that shield the internal arena,” the terse statement said.
This was a clear reference to the preemptive operations the Lebanese Army has been staging against terror groups, including the military thwarting a series of suicide attacks in the country by arresting terror suspects, and last Monday’s successful crackdown that dismantled a terror operations room run by Islamist militants in the notorious Roumieh Prison and transferred them to a more tightly controlled jail block.
Referring to the two sides’ agreement in past dialogue sessions to defuse sectarian and political tensions fueled by the Syrian turmoil, the statement said: “Discussion continued on the points that had previously been addressed. Clear progress has been made in these points, thus opening the horizon for results that can help consolidate national stability.”
Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk, one of three senior Future officials representing the party in the dialogue with Hezbollah and who oversaw the Roumieh Prison operation, has said that a security plan would soon be implemented in the northern Bekaa region to crack down on kidnappings for ransom, killings, drug smuggling and car thefts.
The Future Movement and Hezbollah agreed during the second round of dialogue on Jan. 5 to support the continued implementation of a government security plan in all Lebanese territories following the successful restoration of state authority in the northern city of Tripoli.
Defusing Sunni-Shiite tensions is the main item on the talks agenda which, officials from both sides say, also includes finding a mechanism to allow the election of a president, boosting efforts to combat terrorism, promoting a new vote law and energizing stagnant state institutions.
The statement did not say if the two sides discussed the 8-month-old presidential deadlock although some Future MPs had said the issue would be addressed during Friday’s session.
On the eve of Friday’s session, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah sounded upbeat about the outcome of dialogue with the Future Movement.
“I am very optimistic about the dialogue with the Future Movement and about reaching results amid the willingness on both sides,” Nasrallah told Al-Mayadeen TV channel Thursday night.
He added that the launching of the dialogue between the two rival factions has defused sectarian tensions, protected the country from collapse and preserved stability.
In addition to cooperation to break the presidential deadlock, energize government work and agree on a new electoral law, Nasrallah said the dialogue was also aimed at “combating terrorism which is targeting everyone.”
“Daesh [ISIS] is against everyone and so is the Nusra [Front],” he said.
Machnouk said the talks would discuss the presidential election “because it has the same priority as that of defusing [sectarian] tensions.”
“The dialogue has created a state of calm,” he said in an interview with LBCI TV Thursday night.
As in past sessions, Future was represented by Nader Hariri, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s chief of staff, and Machnouk. Future MP Samir Jisr did not attend because he was on a trip abroad.
Hezbollah was represented by Hussein Khalil, a political aide to Nasrallah, Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan and MP Hasan Fadlallah. Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, a political aide to Berri, also attended.
The Future-Hezbollah dialogue has won support from rival politicians, as well as from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, the U.S. and the European Union.
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