July-War Secrets (Episode 5): Berri convinces Fadlullah to Move from Hara to Ain el Tineh
An Iranian Delegation Arrives Secretly in Beirut... Saudi Arabian King to Larijani: We Are Ready for Any Settlement Formula
Feltman's Settlement: If You Are Serious... Offer a Thorough Proposal to Cease Fire before Rice Arrives
French Prime Minister Has No Prospect, Can Only Remind Us of Resolution 1559
As politically neutral regions witnessed human migration and Beirut witnessed the visits of international delegations; as the highest bridge in the Middle East was ruined and the U.S. sought establishing a new corridor in the Middle East, we commenced sensing the first signs of the "Israeli" pain, which could be monitored on land. Maroun Al-Ras Town remained proud, and Aita Al-Chaab was collecting more and more stories, inspiring an endless history. So did the villages and frontlines of ground confrontation, echoing until the birds of Al-Jalil (Galilee) heard their sound.
It wasn't enough for the international delegations to quench their thirst with inconsecutive visits to Beirut anymore, so they packed for an international conference in Rome, which was preceded by Condoleezza Rice's "raid" against the Governmental Palace, whereby she played the "Israeli" negotiator.
Mrs. Condi translated her "fascination" with Premier Siniora with kisses on his cheeks and solution formulas that maintained the "Israeli" conditions and asked for more, for Rice saw that she was going to establish a "new Middle East". Nevertheless, the fighters spoiled her prospect.
Offering adjusted proposals in return for proposals, MP Berri was maintaining flexible formulas and solid stances.
The ninth day of the War (Thursday, July 26) began as international coverage was provided for the "Israeli" Aggression; whereby the Security Council was held to "settle the conflict", and this was declared by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. The settlement stated that both "Israeli" soldiers must be handed over to the Lebanese authorities; fire must be ceased; and a peace-keeping force must be deployed on the Lebanese side of "the Blue Line (published by the UN on June 7, 2000)". Yet, Annan's talk bore a novelty, whereby he called for an international conference to set an accurate timeline to apply the Security Council's resolutions, specifically Resolutions 1559 and 1860.
In fact, that was another international commissioning for "Israel" to continue its War, supported by the stance of the U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN John Bolton, who refused the cease-fire and insisted on making a change in the Middle East.
"Israel" commenced preparations suggesting that a wide-scale ground war was going to happen. I contacted Haj Hussein Khalil to discuss this issue; both of us agreed that any operation of this kind would offer the chance of causing grave casualties to the "Israeli" Military, negatively affecting the Military's morale, especially when its dependence on the air forces had so far limited the "Israeli" casualties upon the Resistance's missiles bombardment against the "Israeli" interior.
In spite of the internationally escalating political talk, MP Berri considered that the best stance was that we must not make political comments before we could clearly hear "Israel's" stance. Berri considered, too, that the most important progress had been the decrease in the talk about disarming Hizbullah, which represented an important retreat of the "Israelis". MP Berri requested that we make our next step of negotiations after hearing "Israel's" stance.
That night, Sayyed Nasrallah appeared on "Al-Jazeera Channel", inspiring people with great morale and iterating that the Resistance now owned the initiative. On air, he confirmed what Haj Hussein had reported: The only way to negotiate the captives' issue was negotiating it with MP Nabih Berri, and the Resistance was getting ready for ground confrontation.
Dar el Fatwa Meeting
On Friday, July 21, 2011, Mdeirej Bridge (Sawfar), the highest bridge in the Middle East, was demolished. However, the actual incidents occurring confirmed that a greater catastrophe had befallen "Israel"; whereby the fighters achieved important results in Maroun Al-Ras as they confronted the ("Israeli") elite forces. Likewise, members of the Amal Movement directly shared the battle, which could not finish any Resistance leadership in spite of the air raids in Baalbeck in succession with the air raids in the South and Beirut Southern Suburb, where no more targets were left.
That day, a ceremony was held to commemorate 74 martyrs in Sur (Tyr) Region. Along with MP Berri, we pursued complex details to complete the memorial ceremony without ant troubles in regard to the intersection of different considerations. It was very tragic to find oneself unable to greet his/her beloved for one last time before this person got buried. Among the martyrs were many who we knew closely.
The talk of the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice showed the murderous identity of the United States; whereby Rice refused any talk on regarding cease-fire before certain conditions were achieved, adding that "what we're seeing, in a sense, is the growing - the ‘birth pangs' - of a new Middle East..." Also, she stressed the call for the Rome Conference that would precede her arrival in the Middle East Region starting with Monday (the 24th of July). Rice confirmed that she was going to meet with the Lebanese Premier Fouad Siniora, whom she described as "wonderful".
The developments of the previous days brought back the idea of holding an Islamic meeting in Dar Al-Fatwa, the holding of which had been decided earlier for the sake of announcing a unified Islamic stance regarding what was happening in Iraq, in addition to considering the possibility of calling for a conference for the Iraqi leaderships in Beirut. It was decided that MP Berri, Premier Siniora, Mufti and Sheikh Muhammad Rashid Qabbani, and Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan would participate in the meeting.
Calls were made, and the attendees made the draft of a statement that they would issue on Friday. Although MP Berri approved of it, Premier Siniora wrote down several notes on it, asking to cross some sentences, the careful consideration of which showed the prevailing style of thinking that was trying to stay away from the expression of "Resistance" and its right in defense. The point of supporting the government was added to the text, too. After all, the discussion taking place unified opinions on the issues discussed, of which Premier Siniora approved, too, and made a positive declaration concerning consolidation in confrontation with the Aggression. Earlier, MP Berri had iterated that "Israel" would not be able to overcome the Resistance or the southern shield that was fortified with national unity.
Earlier at 12:30 PM, the French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy arrived in Beirut, and MP Berri welcomed him. MP Berri informed us that France had nothing to do with the solution; Douste-Blazy rather had "hopes" and repeated what he had heard the American Bolton saying in the UN Headquarters the day earlier. What I grabbed, actually, was that the French Minister supported no fire cease as the U.S. didn't want that and it rather insisted that this had to happen through a thorough bargain.
Well, the thing was that France was considering providing a safe maritime corridor for humanitarian aids. MP Berri said, "Douste-Blazy did not forget to remind us of Resolution 1559. He refused to comment on the proposal of Kofi Annan before the cease-fire..."
Al-Hoss advices Siniora
While Blazy was continuing his round in Beirut, MP Saad Hariri was meeting President Jacque Chirac in Paris. During our discussion, we appreciated Hariri's declaration, specifically his call for holding none of the Lebanese sides responsible for the War, as well as his adherence to the unity of the Lebanese people. Yet, politically, he spoke again of handing over the "Israeli" captives to the Lebanese government.
MP Berri received MP and Doctor Salim Al-Hoss, who declared that the worst thing that could happen was facing the international community with two stances: the government's stance and the Resistance's stance. Also, Al-Hoss informed MP Berri that he had had a long talk with Premier Siniora, advising him to keep a communication corridor with Hizbullah, whereby MP Berri played mediator. So Berri replied, "I'm working on this without being told to do so, and I consider that the primary mission is to keep the image of a united stance."
Feltman Pursues a Role
By Saturday (the 22nd of July), the battles in Maroun Al-Ras had altered the War from the "Israeli" air dominance to a great confusion on land. This hill-mounting, first town among the towns on the borders with occupied Palestine actually allowed the fighters to obstruct its infiltration by the enemy's elite forces. On the other hand, the Amal Movement offered a martyr: the resistant commander Hani Alawiyeh, the martyrdom of whom touched all of us.
MP Berri called me to his office, where he was having a meeting with the American Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman. Berri asked me to explain to him the barbarism of the "Israeli" air raids in the South, specifically in Al-Khiyam Town. Besides, Berri gave him photographs exposing the massive "Israeli" massacres. Feltman, however, had a look at the first ones before closing the album and trying to direct the discussion in another way. Still, starting with this day, every foreign officer that Berri was to meet would have to see these photographs.
Feltman said that the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would eventually arrive on Monday and that it was beneficial to offer her something new that she could report to "Israel", for the talk of cease-fire without other elements would be a defeat for "Israel", and that would be something Rice wouldn't accept. He said, "If you're serious, then you should offer a thorough proposal."
MP Berri informed us that he didn't discuss much with Feltman because he understood that Feltman had no new data and wanted to play a role in maturing things before Rice's arrival. MP Berri said, "He left things open, and I felt there was something new for our sake."
Afterwards, the Italian Minister of the Diplomatic Corps Franco Mistretta talked about the preparations for the Rome Conference on Wednesday, August 26, but until then, we hadn't reached an agreement or clarified things. Even the Ministerial Council held that day did not discuss the Conference issue.
Then MP Berri met with the British Minister of Foreign Affairs David Miliband and the British Ambassador James Watt. Likewise, MP Berri received the Iraqi ambassador, who reported President Jalal Talabani's message of dismay regarding MP Berri's description of some armed forces in Iraq as resistant forces. His stance, however, did not fit for our discussion.
Following was a detailed meeting with a medical Iranian delegation, whereby the discussion involved Iranian information concerning American readiness to debate cease-fire, and this made MP Berri consider drafting a new plan for solution, helping, therefore, to reach cease-fire.
Having moved to a new residence with the Amal men, I arranged my own affairs. Haj Hussein Khalil called at 5:00, and I hadn't been in touch with him the day earlier, so we met near "the Bristol Hotel" and rounded the streets of Beirut until the side of Ras An-Nabe' before returning to Ain el Tineh.
As MP Berri, Haj Hussein Khalil, and I held a meeting, Haj Hussein reported Sayyed Hassan's information regarding the actual atmospheres on ground and the beginnings of the ground battle that would cost "Israel" a lot in comparison with its casualties so far.
Also, we talked about "the Zilzal missile" (Literally "the Earthquake missile"), which was discovered on a truck in Bchamoun Region, as well as other military provisions reaching the South as the War reached its climax. And we talked about the espionage nets which were busted in the targeted places in Beirut Southern Suburb. Furthermore, our discussion involved the presence of migrants in the region near Ain el Tineh...
MP Berri said we needed to think loudly and to propose solution scenarios, the perfect adoption of which was not required, though.
We debated the acceptable limits of the captives' exchange and whether this should involve the Lebanese captives only or further include Palestinian and Arab captives. As well, we discussed the positivity of handing over an "Israeli" captive to the Lebanese Army in return for the martyrs' bodies before moving to one-week negotiations.
We focused on studying all possible choices that could maintain our interests in reaching cease-fire as the other side ("Israel") supposedly needed this. Then we wrote down our ideas in preparation for what was to come.
I bid farewell to Haj Hussein Khalil after we agreed on alternative communication means in case we could not keep in direct touch, which should take place in the fastest possible time.
In the morning of Sunday (July 23), Haj Hussein sent his companion to give me a letter he wrote. The letter included Sayyed Hassan's stance after he was consulted regarding our last debate with MP Berri. Sayyed Hassan requested that MP Berri formulate the stance that he found convenient in accordance with the development of the negotiations path and on the basis of the common prospects which served the required purposes (of Hizbullah and the Amal Movement).
Al-Faisal's Visit to Washington Precedes Rice's Visit
In the meantime, "Israel" was reinforcing its ground forces in an attempt to achieve a certain infiltration on earth, retaining, thus, the initiative. As for the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal, he was preceding Rice's visit to Beirut by moving to Washington D.C. and meeting with the American President George W. Bush, offering Saudi Arabian-Egyptian ideas concerning "a thorough settlement" of the situation in the entire Middle East.
The German delegate Peter Wittig arrived along with the German Ambassador to Lebanon Marius Haas, and I attended their meeting with MP Berri. Wittig spoke about the human issue of the dislodged people and how to deal with this. (It's to be mentioned that Premier Siniora had proposed the idea of establishing refugee camps, but MP Berri refused it absolutely, for he considered that it suggested that the problem would continue and that people would stay there after the end of the War. Such idea, therefore, was a negative indicator.)
MP Berri encouraged the German delegate to get his country to play a certain role, whereby they could be the best European mediators upon their expertise in running the process of negotiations for captives, also upon their open relationship with different sides. Well, it didn't seem that Wittig had a clear prospect regarding this role, so MP Berri analyzed the situation deeply and opened encouraging channels. When asked about his prospect of the solution, he answered that this could take place through cease-fire and that the discussion regarding all other issues was open.
Upon MP Berri's request, Haj Abdullah Berri and I moved to Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah's residence (in Ain el Tineh), and we informed him of the current communications and political developments. Sayyed Fadlallah was interested in the details and the way the battle was run, and he was comfortable, whereby he expressed his deep confidence that "victory is going to be ours."
In the meantime, and upon the statement of the Iranian Ambassador Muhammad Reda Shibani, it was reported that the Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi was working on cease-fire and that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had asked Shibani to report the details to MP Berri. Also, we agreed that the Italian ambassador should contact MP Berri.
Later on, Haj Hussein informed me that they (Hizbullah) had sent for Mr. Ali Larijani, considering that he was the mediator as they'd agreed; however, they received no answer. Later, MP Berri proposed an initiative a few days before the Rome Conference would be held.
On Sunday, MP Berri made and got many external calls and received ambassadors. Despite the difficulty of the ground developments, all circumstances showed that the path of these developments would serve our political interest.
Larijani Meets King Abdullah
I had promised my family to see them to choose the name of my newborn son before I got a call from Haj Hussein Khalil at midnight. So we decided to meet in one of the Bir Hassan buildings that I knew. I informed MP Berri of this and moved there. Although the distance was short, the ride annoyed me, for the night was dark, and there were no lights on the streets or in the buildings. Besides, there were no cars at all, and I felt that the MK (surveillance) plane followed me as I drove my car alone. And when I reached the place, I met with Haj Hussein and a friendly, sympathetic Iranian figure.
This figure that was secretly visiting Beirut reported the results of Ali Larijani's meeting with the Saudi Arabian King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz in Riyadh, as well as the King's readiness to discuss the Lebanese situation and to seek a supportive settlement formula; still, this figure mentioned that the King was dissatisfied upon the stance of Hizbullah and Sayyed Hassan in particular. Besides, Larijani and the King had discussed the way to organize a relation that did not draw things to a new actuality in the (Middle East) Region and that did not push the Arabs away from Iran.
Now our detailed discussion included the political and ground incidents, the strong coordination relation between Hizbullah and the Amal Movement, and the readiness for the ground confrontation that would make the Resistance's arms serve for confrontation more than for deterrence.
Berri Postpones National Dialogue
The next day (Monday, July 24, 2006) was busier and opened the channel to exchange ideas locally regarding what would happen in the Rome Conference, the holding of which was confirmed. Besides, it became apparent that the discussion in the Conference would shift from offering services and human assistance to the political debate, and this required exceptional readiness. And as the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Beirut, she made many proposals, attempting to leave the impression that she was running things and defining their path. Nevertheless, the actual incidents confirmed the overcoming of the "Israeli" conditions, the promotion of which Rice had come for.
MP Berri began his day by issuing a statement, in which he announced the postponement of the National-Dialogue session, which was supposed to be held the coming day. MP Berri seemed displeased, for the scene of the Dialogue would have made the best counteraction against the enemy and would have defeated its scheme. However, the different points of view regarding the Aggression wasted this chance, and fear existed in any discussion or meeting. More than once, this pushed MP Berri to avoid holding public meetings for (political) forces and movements so as to avoid stirring division.
Hereupon, MP Berri received the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Lebanon Abdul Aziz Khoja. Berri spoke first, "We can have different stances on the War, but this doesn't spoil the warmth and necessity of the relations (between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia)."
Khoja's answer was that Saudi Arabia's stance was clear: refusing and convicting the Aggression against Lebanon.
And Berri said, "What I'm interested in at the moment is to avoid falling into the trap of sectarianism showing contradictory points of view of the different confessions. Let's keep this issue in the context of political disagreement, and your role is, in fact, very important regarding this issue upon the position of the Kingdom with respect to Lebanon and the Arab World."
MP Berri knew perfectly the effect of this meeting on the general Islamic atmosphere.
The Sixth Episode Will Include:
Rice to Berri: "Israeli"-Captives Issue Is Unimportant Now..."
Berri Repeats: "All South Is Fighting, Victory Isn't Yours..."
