Lebanon's Hezbollah chief, majority leader to meet: MP (AFP)
22 minutes ago
BEIRUT (AFP) - Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah will soon meet with his Sunni rival and parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri for the first time in more than two years, a Hezbollah lawmaker said on Wednesday.
"Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Saad Hariri will meet soon," Mohamed Raad, who leads the Shiite militant movement's parliamentary bloc, said after talks with with Hariri.
Raad said he and Hariri had a "frank discussion" but he did not specify when Hariri and Nasrallah were due to meet.
Lebanon's rival political leaders have been working toward reconciling their differences in recent weeks ahead of a national dialogue that will set the tone for parliamentary elections due next year.
Hariri and Nasrallah have not met face to face since the 2006 national dialogue, which was interrupted by Israel's destructive war with Hezbollah that summer.
Hariri, the son of slain ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, heads the anti-Syrian majority in parliament. Hezbollah is allied with Syria and Iran.
A debilitating 18-month political crisis between the two sides culminated in May in an armed Hezbollah-led takeover of large swathes of mostly Sunni west Beirut sparking sectarian violence throughout the country that left 65 dead.
The crisis ended after a Qatari-brokered accord led to the election of President Michel Sleiman and the formation of a national unity cabinet.
The deal also called for Lebanon's rival factions to return to the national dialogue. A first session was held on September 16 and a second session has been set for November 5.
The main focus of the talks is on forging a defence strategy for Lebanon, but there is widespread scepticism that a deal can be reached given deep-seated divisions over Hezbollah's arsenal.
Hezbollah has been vying to expand the number of participants in the dialogue to include more of its allies, but has faced stiff opposition from the anti-Syrian coalition that includes Hariri.
