BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah Monday extended an olive branch to the Future Movement, offering to cooperate with his Sunni rivals to shield Lebanon as it faces mounting security threats linked to regional turmoil.
In rare praise of his rivals, Nasrallah said the national stances of the Future Movement as well as Sunni political and religious leaders during last month’s fighting between the Lebanese Army and Islamist militants in the northern city of Tripoli had spared Lebanon “a big disaster.”
He also publicly announced for the first time that Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun is Hezbollah’s presidential candidate, while voicing his party’s support for the extension of Parliament’s mandate.
Nasrallah’s conciliatory remarks toward the Future Movement drew a quick response from the group.
“No doubt, Nasrallah’s remarks are positive with regard to reducing Sunni-Shiite tension,” Future MP Ammar Houri told The Daily Star Monday night.
However, he said the Future Movement would need some time to make “a careful reading” of Nasrallah’s speech before taking a final stance.
Houri recalled that former Prime Minister Saad Hariri had launched an initiative three months ago for dialogue with the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance to break the political deadlock that has left Lebanon without a president for more than five months.
“Nasrallah responded to Hariri’s initiative today,” Houri said.
Referring to a long-simmering political feud with the Future Movement that had sometimes erupted into street violence between supporters of the two parties, Nasrallah, making a rare public appearance in Beirut’s southern suburbs, told a roaring audience: “We disagree on a lot of issues, and we disagree with our local and regional analyses. Sometimes we become enemies and rivals, but our ethics teach us that we must thank and praise those who regard the national good.”
He was speaking on the last night of Ashoura commemorations which reach a climax Tuesday.
Nasrallah lauded the Future Movement and its leadership for helping bring an end to the deadly four-day clashes in Tripoli and other parts of the north last month that pitted the Army against militants inspired by ISIS and Nusra Front.
“If we want to neutralize and shield the country, then we need to talk to each other. During the last few weeks, allied and friendly factions have told us that the time has come for dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah. We said we have no objection,” he said. “From this position, I announce that we are ready for this dialogue.”He lauded the Army as “the only true guarantor” of cohesion and civil peace in Lebanon.
“The resistance will never present itself as a security institution. A political institution, yes. But not a guarantor of internal security and stability like the Army.”
At least eight civilians, 11 soldiers and 23 militants were killed in the Tripoli clashes, the worst bout of internal violence since the five-day battle with ISIS and Nusra Front militants in the northeastern town of Arsal in early August.
“Lebanon has been spared a big disaster. It is clear now the magnitude of what was being planned for Lebanon and the north,” Nasrallah said, thanking the residents and Sunni religious and political authorities of Tripoli and the north for their solidarity with the Army.
He also publicly announced for the first time that Aoun is Hezbollah’s presidential candidate in the face of the March 14-backed candidate Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.
Lebanon has been without a president since former head of state Michel Sleiman’s term ended in May, with rivals squabbling over a successor.
Aoun has said he is ready to be a consensus candidate, but has yet to officially declare his candidacy.
“In the country every faction blames the other for the stalemate. I believe that no one in the country wants a void in the presidential post,” Nasrallah said. “We all want a president at Baabda Palace as soon as possible.”
Nasrallah said it is time for the country to reclaim its right to choose a leader without the interference of regional powers, but insisted that neither Iran nor Syria is complicating the situation for Lebanon to elect a president.
“Syria has said that it would support any candidate that is approved by Hezbollah and the resistance,” Nasrallah said. “Iran, has said that the presidency is an internal file and we will not intervene, and it approves any candidate that makes the resistance comfortable.”
As Parliament is set to vote Wednesday on the extension of its mandate for two years and seven months despite opposition by the country’s major Christian blocs, Nasrallah said he supported the move to avert a parliamentary vacuum, that would add to the 5-month-old vacuum in the presidency.
“If you want elections, we are ready. And if you want an extension, we are also ready, but what we are not at all ready for is an institutional void,” he said.
Nasrallah said that Iran’s recent offer of military aid to Lebanon would benefit the Army, but added the decision to accept it or not was ultimately that of the government.
March 14 rivals have cautioned the government against accepting the aid, saying it would violate international sanctions against Tehran and compromise Lebanon’s relationship with the West.
“We don’t want to make a problem in the country over the acceptance of the aid. It’s the Lebanese government’s decision, not mine. But this aid would help the Lebanese Army and no strings are attached,” Nasrallah said.
The Hezbollah chief urged the families of the 27 soldiers and policemen being held hostage by Nusra and ISIS militants on Arsal’s outskirts to show more patience and cooperation to reach a “viable solution” to end the three-month-long hostage crisis.
