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The dispute over the formation of the Lebanese delegation to participate in the border demarcation negotiations with Israel was not limited to the relationship between Baabda and Serail, nor was it reflected in a dispute solely between the President of the Republic and President Fouad Siniora. Rather, it has become a major issue among the allies, and specifically between Hezbollah and President Michel Aoun. These differences are days old, specifically from the first day that Aoun announced that the negotiations file was in his hands, and insisted on the participation of civil, political or diplomatic figures in the negotiating sessions, but Hezbollah flatly refused.
Despite the party’s demands that Aoun not name any civilians among the delegation, the President of the Republic insisted on his position, while offering a concession not to include the Director of the Chancellery, Ambassador Hadi Hashem, and refused. to include the Director General of the Presidency, Antoine Choucair, while he insisted on participation. The civilians in the delegation are the head of the Oil Sector Authority, February Wissam, and an expert in international law and maritime border demarcation, George Christian. Aoun’s stance prompted Hezbollah and the Amal Movement to issue a statement rejecting this delegation and demanding that it be changed.
Just after midnight, and hours after the arrival of US Under Secretary of State David Schenker to Lebanon to participate in the opening of the negotiation sessions on Wednesday, the leaders of the Amal Movement and Hezbollah issued a statement saying: Commenting on the composition of the Lebanese delegation that negotiates the demarcation of the border, which holds its first meeting on Wednesday. We are interested in showing the following:
The framework agreement announced by spokesperson Nabih Berri on the border demarcation negotiations emphasized in its introduction the starting point of the Understanding of April 1996 and Resolution 1701, on the basis of which periodic meetings are held exclusively between military officers, and therefore the formation of the Lebanese delegation in the form received and including civil figures is contrary to the agreement The framework and content of the April Understanding, and therefore the position of the Amal Movement and Hezbollah, and based on their commitment to the National constants and their refusal to be dragged into what the Israeli enemy wants through the formation of their negotiating delegation, which mostly includes personalities of a political and economic nature, express their clear rejection of what happened and consider it outside the framework of the basis of understanding that the agreement was based on it, that it damages Lebanon’s position and its overriding interest, and constitutes u na transgression of all elements of the force of our country and a strong blow to its role, resistance and Arab position, and represents a recognition of the Israeli logic that wants any form of normalization.
The Amal Movement and Hezbollah are calling for the initiative to immediately reverse this decision and reconstitute the Lebanese delegation in accordance with the framework agreement. “
The position of Hezbollah and the Amal movement indicates a great disagreement with the orientations of President Michel Aoun, noting that the Israelis and the Americans insist on giving a political character to the negotiations through the Israeli delegation that was formed and includes an adviser from the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It is not known whether this position will adversely affect or hinder the course of the negotiations, or whether the party will again succeed in pressuring Aoun to withdraw, but if Aoun insists on his position and continues with the negotiations, this means that the A problem will grow between him and Hezbollah, unless Hezbollah resorts to such a nightly statement to blame and openly throw the ball on the President of the Republic’s court, while the negotiations continue as they are.
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