"
King Abdullah Bin
Abdul Aziz may be the first one to call for resuming the national dialogue", this according to a letter sent to President Michel Suleiman on May 22 by the servant of the two holy mosques. Those were the words, that paved
the way for Suleiman’s visit to the KSA.
According to the minutes released following the meeting with the Saudi king, President Suleiman asked the king to exert
pressure on March 14 to convince them to participate in the dialogue.
The king replied:
“
The kingdom’s
traditional policy towards Lebanon did not and will never change. The kingdom understands
the disassociation policy and it did not bother us; it is in your interest. I
also encourage dialogue”, the King added.
Now in the
details of the meeting held by President Suleiman with Prince Saud al Faisal
and former PM Saad Hariri in the presence of Minister Ghazi Aridi, Suleiman
handed Prince Faisal an envelope on the call for dialogue and a second envelope
including Saudi phone numbers taken from the computer of the Jordanian man
detained by the General Security on al-Qaeda affiliation charges.
Hariri did not seem
ready to participate in the dialogue:
“This is not how
one gets invited to the dialogue table. In 2006, we heeded the call and we
participated in the dialogue shortly after my father’s death. We agreed on
everything until we got to the issue of weapons. Hezbollah attacked Israel,
killed two soldiers and destroyed Lebanon. We wanted reconstruction. The year long sit-in
was held in Beirut.
This situation
went on until May 7. We will not forget this day; it is similar to the day my
father was killed. We will make Hezbollah pay the price for this day.
We went to Doha
and then the dialogue was held in Baabda. Hezbollah was the one who called on
Aoun to boycott it.
Now you are inviting
us to sit on a table they disrupted.
Are you asking me
to help Hezbollah overcome its impasse, to cover the disassociation policy
which means turning a blind eye on Syrians or covering a bankrupt government?”
Hariri admonished
Suleiman saying:
“When I was about
to meet with the U.S. President, the ministers resigned. This was a childish
act. You are responsible for this insult.
You did not
postpone the parliamentary consultations one week. Ghazi knows the pressure and
threats Walid Jumblatt was under.”
Hariri set two conditions
to participate in a dialogue that does not necessarily take place on June 11:
-First, the
government’s resignation and the formation of an impartial government with the consent
of March 14.
-Second, calling
on March 8 and March 14 for separate meetings headed by Suleiman to hear their points
of view; then calling for a dialogue.
For his part,
Suleiman said he was ready to hold the two meetings provided that the first
dialogue session takes place on June 11.
In response,
Hariri refused to sit at a dialogue table with a party that owns weapons,
threatening to use them at will.
Prince Saud
al-Faisal intervened:
“There can be no dialogue
when Hezbollah is attached to its weapons.
The problem in
Lebanon is Hezbollah. Lebanon got rid of Syrians; it must get rid of Hezbollah.
We thought that Americans could make Iran more compliant but negotiations did not
yield results. It seems they won’t comply without the use of force. If Iran is
weakened, Hezbollah in Lebanon weakens.”
Suleiman ignored
the comment on the Iranian issue, saying:
“I want to reach
a stage where arms are under the Lebanese state's authority and have no relation with Jerusalem
and the demise of Israel. When borders are demarcated and territories are
liberated, we get rid of weapons.”
Addressing Saud al-Faisal,
he said:
“Talk to Israel
for the borders’ demarcation. Syria is busy with its internal situation and the
border with Shebaa can be demarcated”.
Hariri concluded:
“To go back to dialogue, we want something in return.”
After two hours,
the meeting ended and Aridi stayed with Hariri to ask him about the Druze abductees
from Soueida. Saad said that the issue was settled and that they were released.
Hariri gave Aridi
a message to Walid Jumblatt:
"Let Jumblatt wait and I will
tell him what I want through Marwan Hamadeh."
In conclusion, parts of Hariri’s
conditions were met; Suleiman’s call was met and the king’s word was not
broken.
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