Riachy to visit to Southern Suburbs, says LF communicating with Hezbollah

Minister of Information, Melhem Riachy, announced that he will visit the Southern Suburbs of Beirut (Dahiyeh) this week, to meet an invitation to attend a ceremony in honor of Assafir newspaper. 

"The Lebanese Forces and Hezbollah are communicating and not negotiating," Riachy told an interview with Télé Liban on Monday. 

"Communication is at the core of the LF beliefs; this is how communication with Hezbollah happened," he stressed, denying that both parties were negotiating for political purposes. 

The Minister added that if he was tasked to mediate an understanding between the two rival parties, he would be "honored" to do so. "However, this step is unlikely now, as it requires a central decision by the LF," he explained. 

"The possibility of dialogue with Hezbollah was not discussed with the Free Patriotic Movement," he continued, indicating that communication took place "naturally since the head of the Information House committee is MP Hassan Fadlallah." 

Riachy went on to say that MP Fadlallah was addressing the issue of the Information Ministry's contract workers "very seriously," noting that he, alongside Fadlallah, have tried to convince Prime Minister Saad Hariri not to postpone the finalization of this dossier. 

On the crisis of Lebanese newspapers, the Minister revealed that he would grant them a deadline to turn into electronic sites. 

Furthermore, Riachy indicated that the LF and the FPM were working on reaching a new election law "that will rectify the representation of Christians." 

"The LF does not seek to eliminate any side," he reassured. 

He also said that a hybrid vote mode is the sole law that is likely to reap the majority of lawmakers' votes. 

Moreover, he underlined that he was not a candidate to the imminent legislative polls. 

On a different note, Riachy indicated that his meeting with MP Sami Gemayel should prevent the return of dispute between the LF and Kataeb. 

He added that reconciliation with Marada Movement was underway.

Source :NNA