Report: Hizbullah Says Hariri More Eligible to Mend Aoun-Berri Row

In light of lingering conflict between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri over the seniority decree, Hizbullah said it will not engage in mediation between the two men but believes that Prime Minister Saad Hariri is the man for the job, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

“We are not in the right place to play a mediator role,” an unnamed Hizbullah official told the daily.

“There is only one person who is qualified to do so, PM Saad Hariri, although he is a partner in the seniority decree,” added the source on condition of anonymity.

However, political sources following up closely on the decree issue, told the daily: “Hizbullah's refusal to engage in negotiations is due to two facts. First, both parties know well that Hizbullah is not a mediator because it supports Berri's stance regarding the decree issue. Second, other parties have tried to intervene and failed,” to mend the differences.

The Aoun-Berri spat broke out after the president and the premier signed a decree granting one-year seniority to a number of officers. Berri and Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil have insisted that the decree should have also carried the finance minister's signature.

Aoun and his aides have argued that the decree did not require Khalil's signature because it did not entail any “financial burden,” a point Berri and officials close to him have argued against.

Ain el-Tineh sources have meanwhile warned that the decree would tip sectarian balance in favor of Christians in the army's highest echelons.

The officers in question were undergoing their first year of officer training at the Military Academy when Syrian forces ousted Aoun’s military government from Baabda in 1990. They were suspended by the pro-Damascus authorities until 1993 before they resumed their officer training course as second-year cadets.