Mustaqbal Official Criticizes Berri's Initiative, Says Problem Lies in Lack of Trust in Hizbullah

An al-Mustaqbal movement official criticized Speaker Nabih Berri on Saturday for allegedly ignoring U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 and “confiscating” the authorities of President Michel Suleiman.

In remarks to An Nahar daily published on Sunday, the official, who was not identified, said a speech made by Berri a day earlier had loopholes mainly over the legitimacy of the weapons of the army and the resistance in the South.

Berri launched an initiative calling for the resumption of national dialogue among bickering politicians for a period of at least five consecutive days to discuss the form and policy statement of the future government, revive talks on a new electoral law, and support the military to deal with arms in Tripoli and salvage the eastern Bekaa Valley and the northern border with Syria from the chaos of arms and gunmen.

The initiative also includes a call to address a national defense strategy, a thorny issue that hasn't been resolved in the past years over differences on Hizbullah's arms.

Berri “ignored international resolutions and mainly resolution 1701 that organized armed presence in the South,” the official said.

The speaker added new articles to these resolutions, he said, wondering whether Berri was seeking to come up with a new resolution that outstrips 1701.

The official also criticized Berri over his call for dialogue.

“He cut the road on the president who was a pioneer in inviting” for such a dialogue, the source said.

Berri “confiscated the constitutional authorities of the president that enable him along with the Prime Minister-designate to form the government,” he said.

The cabinet formation efforts are not the role of the national dialogue members, he added.

The Mustaqbal official also slammed the March 8 alliance, which Berri's Amal movement is part of, for not abiding by previous decisions reached at the national dialogue table.

“The problem lies in lack of trust in Hizbullah and the rest of the March 8 factions that approve certain things at the dialogue table and then act on their own,” the official told An Nahar.

“The last example is the Baabda Declaration,” he said in criticism to Hizbullah's fighting in Syria despite approving the declaration that calls for keeping Lebanon at a distance from the regional developments and crises.

Other March 14 alliance officials also criticized Berri for failing to discuss Hizbullah's arms, which they said are imposing self-security in Beirut's southern suburbs.

They said Berri only referred to Tripoli and the Bekaa, a reference to the northeastern border town of Arsal whose residents are staunch backers of the Syrian rebels.