Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra on Tuesday said that the “haste of the local press to schedule a meeting” between the Lebanese Forces and the Marada Movement only served to confuse the public. No date for a meeting between the two Maronite parties had yet been set, much less postponed; Zahra told the Voice of Lebanon radio station on Tuesday.
Zahra also said that he expected President Michel Sleiman to accelerate efforts to foster Christian reconciliation.
Obstacles to such a meeting included the presence of Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, Zahra said. Marada’s request that Aoun be involved in the talks “confirmed that the reasons are not political … We replied that we have no objection to facilitate reconciliation … because there are tragic events that took place among Christians in the North cannot continue,” Zahra added.
Zahra said that the Lebanese Forces was waiting for the Maronite League’s input on when to set a date for the reconciliation talks.
In response to an interviewer’s question, Zahra said that while the media had reported a preparatory committee to study the statement to be issued after the meeting, the Lebanese Forces had not received any official information from the Maronite League on the matter.