Berri told An Nahar that he preferred the presence of "first tier" leaders rather than representatives because talks among "second rank" politicians would slow the consultation process.

The original date for the talks was October 30. The new date was set because Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, former President Amin Gemayel and Parliament's majority leader Saad Hariri have apologized from attending the session due to their absence from the country.

Jumblatt traveled to the United States on Saturday and will meet with top U.S. officials in Washington on Monday, the day the talks were first scheduled to begin.

An Nahar said Friday that Jumblatt will meet during his visit to the U.S. with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and David Welch, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.

"Given previous engagements by some of the leaders and after consultations, it has been decided to postpone the talks to Monday Nov. 6 at 11 am in parliament to discuss the previously announced items on the agenda," said a statement released from Berri's office late Saturday.

The speaker on Wednesday called for fresh talks across Lebanon's sectarian divide for consultations over a national unity government and reforming the country's electoral law.

Those two issues are key demands of pro-Syrian Hezbollah, which fought a summer war with Israel, and Gen. Michel Aoun, the party's close political ally.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Aoun have been recently calling for the resignation of prime minister Fouad Siniora's government. They were among the top 14 leaders who took part in reconciliation talks, launched early March.

The thorny issue aimed at resolving Hezbollah's right to keep its weapons was last tackled by the pro and anti Syrian leaders before the discussions were adjourned late June. The outbreak of the Israel-Hezbollah war July 12 has prevented the resumption of the talks.

The speaker's postponement decision on Saturday came after the March 14 Forces announced they will join the roundtable consultations.

"We are going to take part in roundtable talks because we believe that the (current) tension overwhelming the country must be eliminated," said MP George Adwan, one of four members of the March 14 coalition entrusted by the anti-Syrian camp to meet Berri before coming out with a final decision on its participation.

On Thursday, Hezbollah welcomed Berri's initiative and said it hoped that the meeting would lead to a solution to move Lebanon from its current political impasse. The irony here is that even though Nasrallah is in town , he was not planning to attend the meeting anyway, due to security reasons.

While Aoun did not give a final say in the resumption of the talks, he dubbed Berri's proposal as "positive" and said Saturday that he backed any form of dialogue that would solve the country's problems.

Berri’s agenda serves the interest of Syria & Iran only

The March 14 th alliance is not happy with the agenda of the meeting. They all feel that the 2 items of the agenda do not serve the interest of Lebanon but rather the interest of Syria and Iran. This is why they wanted to include the following points in the agenda:

. The illegal presidency of Emile Lahoud
. Implementing Resolution 1701
. Siniora's seven-point plan which was the basis for the ceasefire agreement
. Hezbollah's weapons

Many observers are of the opinion that the leaders of the March 14 alliance will insist on inclusion of the above points prior to any consultations on a new government and electoral law.

Source: Ya Libnan, Naharnet