The leaders of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group and a rival, pro-Western Druse faction pledged to work together following a rare meeting that could be a step toward political reconciliation and the formation of a national unity government.
Thursday night’s meeting was the first in more than three years between Hezbollah chief Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and Druse leader Walid Jumblatt, a leading politician in the pro-Western coalition.
A Hezbollah statement on Friday said the two men pledged to work together to move Lebanon “from a state of crisis to a state of cooperation” after the June 7 parliamentary elections in which the Western-backed coalition retained a majority in the new 128-member legislature.
The two men had a falling out in late 2005. Jumblatt accused Hezbollah of trying to destabilize Lebanon at the behest of its Iranian and Syrian patrons. Nasrallah accused Jumblatt and his allies in the Western-backed coalition of following US policies.
Both sides, however, have toned down the rhetoric.
A senior Druse aide to Jumblatt praised the meeting with Nasrallah as a positive development that would help defuse political and sectarian tensions.
“I hope it will be the beginning of an open dialogue among all the Lebanese because Lebanon’s problems cannot be solved except through dialogue,” Lebanese Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi told reporters on Friday. “With this meeting, there will definitely be a positive atmosphere in the country.”
The meeting is expected to smooth the way for consultations on a new administration in the coming weeks. Saad Hariri, the Sunni leader of the pro-Western coalition, has expressed interest in becoming the next prime minister of a national unity government, a tough task in view of the conflicting demands of the factions.
Hezbollah’s al-Manar television aired footage of the meeting, held in a closed room, but did not say where it took place.
Shiite MP Ali Hassan Khalil told the Hezbollah-run al-Manar TV that the Nasrallah-Jumblatt meeting will have positive repercussions on the future of Lebanon. He added that the talks would open the doors of cooperation, which will be in Lebanon’s favor.
Al-Manar said the meeting touched on the latest speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Jumblatt warned on Thursday against an Israeli attack on Lebanon in light of Netanyahu’s speech, which focused on the growing Iranian threat.
Jumblatt called on Lebanese to “put aside the drama of the thrill of election victory of the ruling majority forces and gear up to face the challenges ahead of us and the great Israeli threat that was clearly reflected in Netanyahu’s speech.”
Nasrallah has been in hiding, likely in his south Beirut stronghold, since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war because of Hezbollah fears of assassination by Israeli agents.
A similar reconciliation meeting last year between Nasrallah and top rival Hariri was held in a bid to defuse Shiite-Sunni tensions.
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