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Report: Hizbullah Demands Apology from Suleiman over Remark to End Impasse

Ties between President Michel Suleiman and Hizbullah reached a standstill as efforts exerted by officials to end the ongoing dispute didn't make any breakthrough.

A source close to Hizbullah told al-Liwaa newspaper, published on Saturday, that “the resistance will not accept anything less than an apology in order to reconsider rectifying the ties with Suleiman.”

“Endeavors by some sides to ease Suleiman's remarks will not resolve the matter,” the sources said.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper, Youth and Sports Minister Abdul Motleb al-Hennawi was tasked by Suleiman to end the dispute but the minister failed to avert Hizbullah's stance.

Despite the President's efforts to rectify the ties with Hizbullah, informed sources told al-Liwaa newspaper that the relations reached a “deadlock.”

The tension between Suleiman and Hizbullah reached unprecedented levels recently after the president said during a speech that Lebanese parties should not hold onto inflexible equations that hinder the adoption of the new government's policy statement.

Suleiman had stated that the panel should steer away from “wooden equations” to which Hizbullah responded that the president “does not distinguish between gold and wood.”

His remark drew a sharp retort from Hizbullah, which said the president needed “specialized care.”


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