Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri agreed on not holding a cabinet session this week pending a solution to a crisis that emerged over demands to refer to the Judicial Council the killing of two aides of State Minister for Refugee Affairs Saleh al-Gharib in the Druze area of Aley earlier this month.
Contacts between Aoun and Hariri on Tuesday focused on handing over all suspects from the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and the Lebanese Democratic Party (LDP), both involved in the deadly shootout.
“The general atmosphere signals a possible solution,” sources familiar with the issue told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The PM dispatched his political adviser, ex-minister Ghattas Khoury, to learn from the President the clear position of LDP leader MP Talal Arslan from the latest developments.
Gharib is a member of the LDP.
Hariri is hoping that Aoun would convince Arslan to relinquish his demand to refer the deadly shooting to the Judicial Council, the country’s top judicial court, during the next cabinet session.
However, Arslan seems to be sticking to his stance.
Cabinet sessions have been stalled since the June 30 Aley shooting, which has widened the rift among several political parties.
PSP chief ex-MP Walid Jumblatt said Tuesday that “Lebanon’s interest lies above all considerations.”
He added that his party was ready to accept any procedures in the deadly shooting.
