Hezbollah, Future Movement hold dialogue in Lebanon

Rival Lebanese parties, the Hezbollah resistance movement and the Future Movement led by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, have held ice-breaking dialogue.

The meeting was held at Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s residence on Tuesday.

Hezbollah was represented by Haj Hussein Khalil, the political assistant of the party’s Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, Agriculture Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan and MP Hasan Fadlallah, while Nader Hariri, chief of Hariri’s staff, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk, and MP Samir Jisr represented the Future Movement.

“Both sides stressed their eagerness and readiness to start a serious and responsible dialogue over various issues, with each group understanding the stance of the other from some disputed topics,” said a statement after the meeting, reported Lebanese paper The Daily Star.

Hezbollah and the Future Movement said their dialogue “is not aimed at forming a new political alliance in the country or confronting any political group, hijacking the decision of another or pressuring parties to take certain stances on constitutional events.”

The dialogue between the rival parties aims, among other things, to defuse rising Sunni-Shia tensions in the country, facilitating the election of a president, and bolstering counterterrorism efforts.

The Lebanese parliament has failed for the 16th time in a row to elect a president to replace Michel Suleiman whose term expired in May.

The parliament was unable to reach a quorum due to the boycott of sessions by some political groups.