Berri says relations with neighbor Syria a must, amid enmity with Israel
After meeting Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Shaibani for the first time, Hezbollah ally and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Lebanon has no choice but to engage with Syria.
"Lebanon cannot cooperate with Israel, and if it refuses to deal with Syria, the Lebanese will be left with no choice but the sea," Berri told al-Modon newspaper in remarks published Friday.
Shaibani also met Thursday with President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. He told Aoun that Damascus had no intention of intervening militarily in his country despite U.S. pressure to do so.
Berri said Shaibani voiced full solidarity with Lebanon and all its components and that he sensed no hostile attitude toward Hezbollah, but rather a willingness to communicate with the group if mutual interests required it.
Berri stressed that relations with Syria in the coming phase should be "peer-to-peer" and based on mutual respect for sovereignty and non-interference in each other's affairs.
Source: Naharnet
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