Berri responds to US embassy statement on proposed Aoun-Netanyahu meeting

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday issued his first response to the statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, which called on President Joseph Aoun to hold a direct meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the statement “speaks for itself” and that he has nothing to add.

Berri said he had “turned off his engines,” stressing that his response to the president “came in reply to what he said during his meeting with the economic bodies,” referring to Aoun’s remarks about full coordination with Berri regarding the negotiations. 

He said this is what lies behind his apology for not attending the meeting that had been scheduled with Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the presidential palace.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Berri said the so-called truce has allowed Israel to go too far in its aggression and commit massacres in an unprecedented manner, without intervention from the United States to compel it to stop hostilities and consolidate the ceasefire, especially since it was behind reaching the extension of the truce, which, he said, requires it to respect its commitments to the Lebanese and the international community.

“Otherwise, what is the point of negotiations under Israeli fire?” Berri said. “And what will we say to the families of the victims of Israeli treachery in the south?”