Lebanon’s former prime minister and leader of the Future Movement Saad Hariri showed understanding towards the meeting held by Lebanese President Michel Aoun and the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) Walid Jumblatt, a political source told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Hariri, according to the source speaking under the conditions of anonymity, informed Lebanese lawmaker Wael Abou Faour that the main reason behind the meeting was to ease tensions in Mount Lebanon and prevent a lurking clash between Christian and Druze communities.
Even though relations between the PSP and the Future Movement remain unstable, Hariri and Jumblatt insist on coordinating efforts.
The political source said that it is wrong to conclude from the participation of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in the national meeting sponsored by Aoun and attended by PSP leader Jumblatt that Geagea and Jumblatt represent a united front alongside Hariri.
Jumblatt and Geagea’s move, according to the source, will not change the current political standing and that the government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab is not going anywhere so long Aoun’s presidential mandate is still running.
As for Aoun and Jumblatt’s meeting, sources said that MP Farid Boustani, a member of Aoun’s parliamentary bloc, sought to mediate between the two sides, “in order to prevent a further political escalation” between Christians and Druze in the region.
