Jumblat Counters Aoun”s Pressure by Insisting on Telecommunications Portfolio
Democratic Gathering leader Walid Jumblat has reportedly threatened to reconsider his tentative approval of giving up the telecommunications portfolio in the forthcoming cabinet.
The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat said Jumblat has relayed his stand to Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri upon the latter”s return from Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Jumblat”s decision also was relayed to other allies in the March 14 majority alliance and to Speaker Nabih Berri.
The move apparently aims at countering pressure exerted by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun to control a sovereign portfolio and basic "services ministries" in the forthcoming cabinet, which has led stalling efforts to end the cabinet impasse.
Meanwhile, a tentative deadline set by President Michel Suleiman to form the new cabinet expires on Tuesday amidst a stall in contacts to facilitate the mission and sporadic acts of violence that escalate tension in several regions.
Berri, a key figure in cabinet line-up contacts, has left on a "several-day private visit," which indicates that the government impasse would persist, according to the leading daily An Nahar.
However, it said a major political move could take place at the Republican Palace of Baabda Monday, which could be a meeting between Suleiman and a delegation from the Hizbullah-led opposition.
Such a cautiously predicted development could not be officially confirmed, but it followed reports about a meeting by key opposition figures overnight at Aoun”s residence in Rabiyeh grouping former MP Suleiman Franjieh and Hizbullah representatives.
Topics of the discussion were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, limited clashes were reported in north and east Lebanon between supporters of the opposition and majority partisans, escalating tension, but inflicting no casualties.
Army units prevented a squad of pro-opposition gunmen from erecting barricades in Tripoli”s Mankoubeen district and arrested several gunmen.
In east Lebanon”s Bekaa Valley, a limited clash was reported between Hizbullah and Mustaqbal Movement partisans in the Saadnayel-Taalabaya region. Army units also intervened and contained the deterioration.
In the Bekaa valley town of Zahleh, three gunmen kidnapped a young man from a restaurant to an unknown location. Rumors had it that the kidnappers are Hizbullah members.
The thuds of 12 explosions also echoed across the Bekaa overnight, raising tension in the volatile region.
Witnesses said the blasts were reported at bases manned by the Syrian-Backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC).
Nature of the blasts could not be determined.