Former prime minister and Future Movement leader Saad al-Hariri met Monday evening Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea at his residence in Maarab , National News Agency reported
The meeting between the two leaders was also attended by the LF chief’s wife MP Sethrida Geagea and Hariri’s advisers Hani Hammoud and Nader Hariri, sNNA added
Geagea threw a dinner banquet in Hariri’s honor after the talks.
“Your speech was excellent yesterday,” MTV quoted MP Geagea as telling Hariri upon his arrival in Maarab.
“Your presence among us resolves the country’s issues,” the LF chief for his part told Hariri, according to the TV network.
Hariri and Geagea later held a joint press conference and answered questions from reporters.
“We are comrades of the same path and this visit was scheduled in advance and we reject to say that it is for apology,” said Geagea at the conference.
Asked about Hariri’s remarks at the BIEL rally, which have infuriated LF supporters, Geagea stressed that he did not consider Hariri’s statement as an insult to him.
“I took it normally and I forgot for a moment that I was at a rally. For a moment I felt that we are home and that we are joking with each other like we normally do,” said Geagea.
“Yesterday we marked the anniversary of Rafik Hariri’s martyrdom, which has changed Lebanon’s modern history, and we must not stop at petty issues. Rafik Hariri was assassinated for the sake of building a good country and this is what we must strive for,” the LF leader added.
“ Hariri also voiced decisive remarks yesterday, when he stressed that he will not boycott the (electoral) session,” Geagea went on to say, underlining that the March 8 camp “has no excuse not to attend the session and vote for a president.”
Hariri for his part emphasized during the press conference that the principles of March 14 bring him together with Geagea.
“Dr. Geagea and I are both concerned about Lebanon and what’s important is to head to parliament and elect a president,” he added, urging all MPs and candidates to attend the upcoming electoral session.
The talks come a day after Hariri arrived in Lebanon to attend a rally marking the 11th anniversary of the assassination of his father, former premier Rafik Hariri.
Remarks voiced by Hariri during the rally have stirred a wave of angry comments by LF officials and supporters, which prompted the Future Movement to issue a clarifying statement.
In his BIEL speech, Hariri said that his recent nomination of Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency has pushed the LF to reach “a historic reconciliation” with the Free Patriotic Movement, its long-time Christian rival.
“We were the first to call for and welcome this reconciliation and I wish it happened long time ago, it would’ve spared Christians and Lebanon a lot of problems,” he added, addressing Geagea.
Future Movement denied Monday that Hariri meant to hold Geagea responsible for the delay in the Christian reconciliation.
“Geagea will remain the friend of a long patriotic path embodied in the Independence Revolution of March 14,” it said in a statement .
Despite the differences with Hariri over the presidential deadlock, Geagea and his wife MP Sethrida attended the rally on Sunday.
The Lebanese parliament failed again on Feb 8 and for the 35th time in a row to elect a president to replace Michel Suleiman whose term ended on May 25 , 2014.
As in the past sessions the parliament was unable to reach a quorum because the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group and its ally MP Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc MPs boycotted the session, because they could not guarantee Aoun’s election as a president
Speaker Nabih Berri who is a key ally of Hezbollah postponed the election to March 2, 2016 .
Telecommunications Minister Butros Harb criticized the current state of democracy in Lebanon, calling for an amendment to the constitution that forces lawmakers to attend the polls.
Speaker Berri said last Thursday that a solution to the controversial file of the presidency is no longer in the hands of the Lebanese and that a Saudi-Iranian dialogue could be the secret magical medicine for this hurdle.
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