Dubai: Lebanon’s Future Movement sees “positive signs” in Hezbollah’s offer to start a dialogue, Lebanese media reported.
The Shiite movement’s chief Hassan Nasrallah made a rare public appearance in the group’s stronghold in Beirut for a speech on Monday, and praised his political opponents in the Future Movement for their help in bringing an end to recent deadly clashes between the country’s army and radical Islamist militants in the northern city of Tripoli, and offered to start a dialogue.
“We disagree on a lot of issues, and we disagree with our local and regional analyses. Sometimes we become enemies and rivals, but our religion teaches us that we must thank and praise those who regard the national good,” the Lebanese Daily Star quoted him as saying. “If we want to preserve and neutralise the country then we need dialogue. During the last few days allied factions have told us that the time has come for a dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah. We are ready for this dialogue.”
Future MP Ammar Houri told The Daily Star that Nasrallah’s offer was in response to the bloc’s leader Sa’ad Hariri’s call for dialogue with the March 8 movement that includes the Shiite Hezbollah and the Christian Free Patriotic Movement led by Michel Aoun.
“No doubt, Nasrallah’s remarks are positive with regard to reducing Sunni-Shiite tension,” Houri was quoted as saying, but added that his bloc would need time to assess the offer.
The political deadlock between the two has left the country without a president for five months.
As Nasrallah appeared on stage wearing a black robe and turban, the crowd seen in a live broadcast on Hezbollah’s Al Manar television began cheering wildly, as they apparently had not expected to see him.
The head of the group, whose forces are fighting in Syria alongside the troops of President Bashar Al Assad, usually addresses supporters via video link.
Nasrallah had not been seen in public since July, when he attended a rally to show support for the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip.
But Monday’s appearance in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, was his sixth since his group fought Israel in a devastating and deadly war in 2006.
Nasrallah has topped the Israeli regime’s most wanted list since even before that 34-day war, and his group has also made enemies with extremist Islamist militants from Syria since its involvement in that country’s conflict.
Hezbollah’s fighters clashed with militants in eastern Lebanon in October, and its strongholds have come under repeated bomb attacks over its involvement in the Syrian conflict.
Nasrallah’s address on Monday came ahead of the peak of Ashura, a festival that marks the killing of Hussain Bin Ali, one of the most revered figures of Shiite Islam and grandson of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
— with inputs from AFP
