 Leaders of Lebanon's rival factions have postponed a national dialogue conference until the end of the month and even hinted that a decision might not be reached. Nabih Berri, parliament speaker, said the leaders agreed in four hours of closed talks on Monday to postpone the next session until April 28 "in order to decide the presidency issue". He said: "Either (we reach) agreement on this (presidency) issue or we don't."
| That kinda covers all the bases, I'd guess... |
If not, he said, the leaders would move on to the last remaining - but tougher - issue of the Shia Muslim group Hezbollah's weapons. A UN resolution calls for Hezbollah to disarm but the group, backed by Iran and Syria, has refused to do so. Lebanon's 14 leaders - pro- and anti-Syrian, Christian and Muslim - have been trying through their unprecedented dialogue to resolve some of the most contentious issues since the end of the 1975-90 civil war. Monday's meeting was the fifth round of talks since the national dialogue began March 2. The talks have focused on Emile Lahoud, the Lebanese president's, fate and on a 2004 UN Security Council resolution that calls on Hezbollah and Palestinian fighters in Lebanon to disarm. |