Berri-Jumblat bromance: Friends, allies and refusers of 'under fire negotations'

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has described a Sunday meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri as "friendly and warm", calling Berri a "long-time friend and ally."

After the meeting, Jumblat said the same phrase previously used by Berri: We cannot negotiate under (Israeli) fire.

"It is not acceptable to negotiate under fire," Berri had told a United Nations Security Council delegation last week, urging it to pressure Israel to respect a year-old ceasefire and to halt its "one-sided war" on Lebanon.

"Negotiations are legitimate but we cannot accept to negotiate under fire," Jumblat said, lauding Simon Karam who was recently appointed as Lebanon's first civilian representative in negotiations with Israel. "He has good moral and political qualities and is a seasoned negotiator," Jumblat said, adding that he supports the monopoly on arms in south Lebanon, and later on all Lebanese territories.