Dar Al-Fatwa Broad Sunni Meeting Voices Concerns over Arms Influence on Lebanese Politics

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati, who is backed by the Hizbullah-led March 8 camp, on Thursday attended together with his Sunni rival Saad Hariri a broad Sunni meeting at Dar al-Fatwa in Beirut.

The meeting at 12:30pm was called to order by Lebanon's Grand Sunni Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani.

It was attended by former premier Fouad Saniora, the country's Sunni MPs and the Council of Muslim Muftis.

According to a statement issued after the meeting, the conferees voiced concerns over the issue of employing weapons to "intimidate" others and achieve political gains.

They also voiced concerns over the issue of "disregarding the results of the 2005 and 2009 national democratic elections."

The conferees condemned "insistence on disrespecting consensual decisions reached at the national dialogue table and insistence on obstructing justice and neglecting the blood of the martyrs."

"The Lebanese adhere to the reconciled relations with the international community," said the statement.

"The Lebanese have adhered to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as a guarantee to justice and stability," it stressed.

The Sunni leaders warned that "the sense of injustice or exclusion of any group at the national level creates a sectarian conflict within the (Lebanese) community."

"We want to ensure the protection of the public system on the basis of the national accord," they noted.

"All the Lebanese people want to establish a state through a democratic system which guarantees diversity and does not exclude any sect."

Qabbani, in remarks published Thursday by An-Nahar daily, said the statement to be issued at the end of the meeting would be based on the atmosphere of talks during the meeting.

He confirmed that both Miqati and Hariri would attend the meeting.

Miqati, however, said he was in touch with Qabbani all day Wednesday in hopes to reach common ground.

"I hope we could reach common ground to allow me to attend the (Dar al-Fatwa) meeting," Miqati told Al-Hayat newspaper.

"Otherwise, I prefer not to participate if I felt there were gaps, because what I hope for is to bridge this gap and not deepen differences," he added.