Lebanese President Returns Negotiations To “Ground Zero” And Gives Iran A Card To Negotiate With The United States

A former prime minister of Lebanon said that the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, returning the consultations to form the new government with the president in charge of forming it, Saad Hariri, to the zero point, gave excuses to his ally, Hezbollah, and through from him, to Iran, which does not like to form quickly, and prefers to transfer the consultations to what After the president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, assumed his constitutional functions, succeeding current President Donald Trump, he added that what What matters to Iran is to negotiate with Biden on the pending issues between Tehran and Washington, including the situation in Lebanon, to reach an agreement with him, instead of “selling” the Lebanese card to Paris, which cannot pay the price required.

The former prime minister noted that he does not understand the reasons for the return of the consultations between Aoun and Hariri to zero point, except through the former taking into account the position of his ally, Hezbollah. Because he does not want to embarrass him, even though the latter is facilitating the birth of the government, in return he refrains from playing any role with him, even as a matter of blaming him, and this was directly touched by the French envoy Patrick Durrell when he met with the head of the “Bloc of Loyalty to the Resistance”, the parliamentarian Muhammad Raad. , Who has shown all the will to help facilitate the formation of the government; However, this will has not yet been accompanied by practical measures. The same source said Dorrell received gratuitous promises from Aoun and his son-in-law, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, and Hezbollah, in their adherence to the French initiative; However, these promises soon evaporated upon his return to Paris.

In a related context, political sources revealed information they had available on the deliberations between the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and various guests, including Lebanese personalities, to dine with him at the invitation of the US ambassador in Paris. These sources quoted one of the Lebanese guests as saying that Pompeo was explicit in saying that there would be no financial and economic aid to Lebanon in the event that “Hezbollah” is represented in the new government directly, or through ministers, who are disgraced as the smell of the party and have indirect political ties to it. The sources – as one of the Lebanese guests informed me – that Lebanon will not be on the agenda of American concerns, in the event that the government is not made up of specialists and independents separated from their party affiliations, and if Pompeo attaches importance to the normalization of relations that is taking place at an accelerated rate between several Arab countries and Israel.

In this context, Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Hariri is maintaining his position. And he was the first, before and after his assignment, to form a major government according to the specifications established by French President Emmanuel Macron, and he obtained the approval of the political components involved in the formation of the government on these specifications, when met them at the Al-Pine Palace. Informed sources said that Hariri had anticipated his terms which he renewed immediately after his assignment. With the formation of the government convinced that the benefit of the return of international interest in Lebanon, which became evident in the disaster that affected Beirut as a result of the explosion that occurred in the port, must be used to save Lebanon, from the that Macron formed a lever, and this will only be achieved with the incorporation of a government with international specifications to restore the confidence of the international community in Lebanon. As a condition for obtaining financial and economic aid to stop its collapse and prevent its progression towards its disappearance.

He stressed that Hariri adheres to an independent government; Because it is the only one from his point of view that opens the door to the reconciliation of Lebanon with the international community and the Arab countries, and is capable of keeping Lebanon away from the ongoing conflicts in the region, and its commitment to politics. of self-distancing that Bassil overthrew without Aoun dissuading him, which led to the inclusion of Lebanon in the axis “The Opposition” led by Iran, and considered that Hariri’s conditions to form the government were not a response to foreign wishes , to the extent that they are the only crossroads that returns Lebanon to the map of international concern; Because it does not have the capacity for financial and economic recovery without paying attention to the international community and engaging with it in the normalization of relations, to put An end to the stage of political confrontations that had no other justification than to pay free bills at the cost of strengthening Arab-Lebanese relations.

Although the same sources are still unaware of the motives that led Aoun to turn against the positive atmosphere that prevailed in the first rounds of author inquiries, and quickly reduced them to zero, they revealed to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that Aoun, without no justification, he acted in the last two meetings with Hariri. As if the assignment did not happen, and she said that he retired from forming the government of 18 ministers, and came back and insisted on increasing the number of ministers to 20. He added that Aoun currently insists on the “unity of standards” as if refused to exclude the Ministry of Finance from the rotation, and adheres to the nomination of Christian ministers, with He has withdrawn from appointing 3 Christian ministers and wishes to replace them. He said his adherence to his position means that he allows Bassil to elect them, and that the latter wants to offset the sanctions imposed by the United States by controlling the “obstructive third party” in government.

The sources added that Aoun insists that Hariri consult with the parliamentary blocs, and behind his request he intends to re-float Bassil and present him to the public opinion, since he still has the keys to the political game, and therefore the sanctions do not affect him, besides that Aoun seeks to form a techno-political government, and this is what Hariri rejects; Because the government will be born in this case, an international and Arab bitch. He added that Hariri will not retire from office and will have the appropriate response, but under the roof of not apologizing for forming the government.

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