Sleiman’s dialogue bid aims to protect state

President Michel Sleiman is seeking to resume national dialogue between rival political leaders stalled since last year in an attempt to protect Lebanon from the reverberations of the current popular upheavals in the Arab world, political sources said Friday. Sleiman chaired a meeting Friday of a preparatory body of the National Dialogue Committee at Baabda Palace that assessed the outcome of the committee’s previous meetings and the current developments that require the relaunching of the committee’s sessions, according to a statement issued by Baabda Palace. The meeting also examined what other topics the committee could discuss, in addition to a national defense strategy for Lebanon, the statement said. It gave no other details. The committee, which includes top leaders from the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance and the opposition March 14 coalition, held its last session of dialogue in November last year, which was boycotted by most March 8 leaders amid divisions over the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The dispute eventually led to the collapse of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Cabinet on Jan. 12. The STL is investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. However, a senior political source said Friday’s meeting at Baabda was designed to reiterate Sleiman’s position that there is no solution for the country’s deepening political divisions between the March 8 and March 14 parties except through dialogue. “The president has been stressing that there is no escape from national dialogue as the only way to spare Lebanon the repercussions of the fast-moving developments in the region,” the source told The Daily Star. Asked if Friday’s meeting signaled that the revival of national dialogue was imminent, the source said: “All the parties have said that they support dialogue but they all add the word ‘but.’” According to the source, the parties from the rival March 8 and March 14 camps have placed conditions on attending the proposed dialogue. “Some [March 14] parties want Hezbollah’s arms to be the only topic of discussion, while others [Hezbollah and its March 8 allies] demand that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the issue of ‘false witnesses’ [in the STL investigation] be the only themes for debate,” the source said. Beirut MP Ammar Houri from Hariri’s parliamentary Future bloc reiterated the bloc’s firm position that they will attend the proposed dialogue only if the divisive issue of Hezbollah’s arms is the only topic of discussion. “The Future bloc’s stance has not changed. Hezbollah’s arms should be the only topic of discussion on the agenda of the dialogue table,” Houri told The Daily Star. He said if any other topics such as the contentions issue of the STL was included on the agenda of dialogue, the Future bloc and its March 14 allies would not attend. Tyre MP Ali Khreis from Speaker Nabih Berri’s parliamentary bloc reaffirmed the bloc’s support for national dialogue. “Dialogue is the only way to overcome our crises and the door to end all tensions,” he told a rally in the southern village of Burj Rahhal. Sleiman has recently renewed his call for national dialogue, warning that Lebanon is facing difficulties and challenges as a result of the popular uprisings in the Arab world, and stressing that dialogue is the only way for the country’s salvation. The president first issued a call for national dialogue aimed eventually at achieving an inter-Lebanese reconciliation in July. He voiced concern over deep political divisions between the March 8 and March 14 parties which are sharply split over three sensitive issues: Hezbollah’s arms, the STL’s funding and the nine-month turmoil in Syria. While Hezbollah and its March 8 allies support the regime in Syria, Hariri and March 14 parties back the anti-regime protesters. Sleiman has recently consulted with leaders from the March 8 and March 14 camps on the possibility of resuming national dialogue. However, the outcome of consultations reflected continued differences between the two sides over what topics to discuss at the proposed dialogue. Both sides have apparently set conditions for attending the proposed dialogue. While Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati have generally endorsed Sleiman’s call for national dialogue, Hezbollah has declared that its arms will not be the topic of any dialogue and is ready to discuss a national defense strategy to protect Lebanon against a possible Israeli attack. March 14 leaders, including Hariri, have voiced skepticism about the proposed dialogue, insisting that Hezbollah’s arms should be the only topic for discussion, or else they will not attend. Berri tried to promote Sleiman’s call for dialogue with the March 14 camp by meeting last month with former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who heads Hariri’s Future bloc. But Berri’s bid hit snags after Siniora signaled that March 14 leaders are unlikely to attend unless measures are taken to implement decisions agreed upon in previous talks. The Daily Star .