By Najia Houssari -- arabnews.com -- Nasrallah crossed the red line that Lebanon has drawn to preserve its relations with the Kingdom, and targeted hundreds of thousands of Lebanese working in the Gulf with his attack on the Kingdom. He accused “everyone who befriends Americans in Lebanon and the region of being a co-conspirator.” Aoun said on Tuesday that “the Lebanese people are keen on preserving Lebanon’s Arab and international relations, especially the ones with the Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia at the forefront.”

Mikati was quick to react to Nasrallah’s attack on the Kingdom, saying: “His statements do not represent the position of the Lebanese government and the vast majority of the Lebanese people. It is not in Lebanon’s interest to offend any Arab country, especially the Gulf states.” He added: “While we call for Hezbollah to be part of the diverse Lebanese nation and to demonstrate its affiliation to Lebanon, its leadership contradicts this direction with positions that harm the Lebanese and Lebanon’s relations with its fraternal countries.” Mikati asked everyone to “have mercy on this country, shield it from useless polemics and stop the hateful political and sectarian rhetoric.”

NNA – Former Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, on Tuesday addressed via twitter Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, telling him that his …

في حين يدعو رئيس الجمهورية إلى انعقاد هيئة الحوار الوطني ثم يؤيده رئيس مجلس النواب ورئيس مجلس الوزراء بالدعوة عينها. وفي حين …

By NAJIA HOUSSARI -- arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: The political aide of Lebanon’s parliament speaker on Monday attacked President Michel Aoun and the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gibran Bassil. MP Ali Hassan Khalil made the remarks in response to Sunday’s speech from Bassil, who threatened to break off the partnership with Hezbollah and asked the party to choose between an understanding with him or an alliance with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Berri's move embarrassed FPM ally Hezbollah a few hours before the Monday evening speech from its secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah was keen to avoid commenting on Bassil's press conference. Political observers were expecting that Nasrallah would not cut ties with Bassil as he was the “only Christian ally of Hezbollah” in Lebanon.

Khalil said at a surprise press conference at the Amal Movement headquarters that the presidency and its movement were “detached from reality” and trying to blame their failure and crises on others. He said Aoun's and Bassil's invitations to a national dialogue had “marketing and populist reasons” and accused the president’s political team of “disrupting” the state and decisions in the Cabinet in order to pass deals and decisions. Khalil said Aoun was the one who had turned the “principle of participation into a confiscation under the sectarian title and slogans of the movement.” He expressed his surprise at Bassil's adherence to the “financial decentralization” proposal, saying the proposal “blasts the basis of the unified state, its responsibility for all its people and regions, and the principle of balanced development.” He further accused FPM ministers, who held the Ministry of Energy, of having ignored the law of the authority regulating the electricity sector for 12 years in order to remain in control of power and decisions, away from any oversight.