July-War Secrets: Exposed by Nabih Berri and Retold by Ali Hassan Khalil (Last Episode)

Berri Convinces Siniora to Visit Beirut Southern Suburb, Informs Kofi Annan of Al-Assad's Decision to Establish Diplomatic Relations with Lebanon
Qatari Prince in Beirut to Hamad bin Jassim: You Deal Comfortably with "Israel"... So Propose Settlement Idea!

O triumphant people, your wound has begun to produce roses. Now the clouds shadow the returners as they step on ashes. And how sweet the mass of people is, for this mass has altered the War into time of love. Now the places are not the same, but their former residents have quickly created souvenir files that are not much older than a month. Among the demolished houses, they search for some soft cuttings... and broken possessions... which used to be here not long ago. And they get overjoyed when they find a family picture... some burned letters... or a toy that has endured demolition as if it had been eager to bring happiness into the heart of a child. 

It is the return carnival that little people and great ones share. So eager to share the exultation at triumph, we invite to our new era the sides that have risked our destinies and expected our dead end. 

We do not meet the level of settling political calculations, and we slip into the game of monopoly, exaggerating the making of ‘paper heroes'. Still, blame cannot exist now, and political debt is not prohibited. We act as partners of the time, for we have one enemy on an open frontline, and this enemy is besieging our sky, waters, and territories.

The August of triumph does not have enough room for everyone, but the wind blows inside our spirits, hinting at others to follow us as we consider that all of us belong to one nation. Now earth glorifies the buried martyrs, and the people whose apartments have escaped demolition give a hand to their neighbors whose apartments have been demolished. Since help is offered to reconstruct buildings, we see we should help the political figures that have been lured to make false political expectations; we know that now Allah the Almighty wants us to maintain the national unity. 

It is time for people to be back after this long absence. Not dry yet, the baskets of figs and grapes are still waiting for their packers to taste their sweet fruits.
Triumphant, the negotiations-policies trustee sets off eagerly to meet with the trusted Sayyed; a new era has come. 

We do not imagine this; we see it: a moment full of life. Our eyes stare eagerly at the very warm salutations of both trustees.

Their meeting now enlightens the place as candles do in a nunnery: the place is so warm that it conducts warmth to the sea waves. They greet and hug each other as if a cloud reserved its rain until lightning would arrive.
I don't remember seeing such scene of declaration of the resistive harvest season; now the wheat spikes raise their heads, grateful since the era of drought is over.
These moments represent no secrets, and we've written these pages only to prevent the danger of their misinterpretation rather than to record political stances upon like. 

Today we shall finish these pages, keeping some others aside until a new date awakens them.

These dailies now have another dimension which we overcome to overlook the scene generally since it has developed upon the interrelation of many events. Yet, what is firm is that we've begun the new political confrontation. We hold tens of internal meetings with Premier Fouad Siniora, MP Saad Hariri, MP Walid Jumblatt, and several forces of "the March-14 Alliance"; whereby the debates have many dimensions, and each of them has special proceedings to be exposed on a different date.

Nevertheless, our major concern is how to maintain the scene of national unity and prevent it from disruption; also to prevent our enemy from exploiting the Lebanese will in order to alter the "Israeli" defeat into victory.
This is why we find MP Berri insisting on communication, lessening fears, and focusing on common factors in many stages. He always says, "We still have an open battle with the "Israeli" enemy, and this is enough to make us unite."

MP Berri met with the Army Commander General Michele Suleiman, who expressed enthusiasm to fulfill the mission of the Lebanese Army's deployment in the South Litany Region. General Suleiman's confident vision made him and MP Berri vow that they would cooperate as much as possible. Also, he made a firm response to the political sides that were trying to exploit the military deployment for interior calculations. 

MP Berri contacted Premier Siniora so as to encourage him to visit Beirut Southern Suburb along with Berri, saying it was an act of commonweal. Berri knew exactly what kind of feelings the people there had, but the national weal required an act that was more likely to be a venture, which included some bickering. Yet, Berri faced them firmly, gaining even the response of the ones who considered they contacted the ‘Siniora Policy-itis' those days. 

Now it was arranged that the Qatari Prince make a private visit, meeting each of the Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri, Premier Fouad Siniora, and President Emile Lahoud separately. Yet, MP Berri insisted that a unified meeting be held, whereby it would begin with receiving the Qatari prince in Beirut International Airport before holding a meeting with him in the Presidential Palace and visiting Beirut Southern Suburb afterwards.

So happened, and the prince reported an invitation to Premier Siniora to visit Syria. Siniora promised to do so even though MP Berri had earlier reported the same invitation to him. Then, Siniora did not respond to the invitation since it was ‘the time of the United Nations Resolution 1680' (which was adopted by the UN Security Council (UNSC) on May 17, 2006; among the standards of which were ‘the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias').
While on the way to the Presidential Palace, the Qatari Prince Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim, MP Berri, Premier Siniora, and President Lahoud debated the chance to open the case of the Middle East crisis and the probability of conducting a thorough settlement, so Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa said that this issue could be debated with "Israel" yet that any Lebanese politician that would do that would be traitorous. Then, he addressed Hamad bin Jassim, "They know you're the one qualified because you deal comfortably with "Israel"; you're the best mediator." 

Speaking to MP Berri aside, Hamad bin Jassim reported to Berri that there was a serious need to maintain a unified stance of the Lebanese government since there was an attempt to get a new resolution issued regarding the disarmament of Hizbullah. As well, bin Jassim discussed Qatar's participation in the missions of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) by sending 200 soldiers.
Through the following days, tens of calls and meetings took place, among which was the first prolonged meeting of MP Berri and MP Saad Hariri as Hariri's Media Advisor Hani Hammoud and I attended the meeting. The discussion involved the past stage, in addition to the future horizons and cooperation probabilities. Actually, Berri tried to lay the foundation for a formula that would make us overcome the incidents of the July War; however, his wishes were not translated into cooperative work plans in the days that followed.

Sayyed Nasrallah Ready to Meet with Kofi Annan in Beirut, But...
By now, the European stance's image had become clearer, manifesting enthusiasm for participating in the UNIFIL's missions. The United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who was preparing to visit the Middle East Region, confirmed that the UN would be neither concerned with disarming Hizbullah nor with getting its troops deployed along the Lebanese-Syrian borders unless the Lebanese government asked for that. 

In fact, "Israel" was intensifying the siege of the Lebanese ports so as to make this case the center of foreign and internal stances and moves.

And before Annan reached Beirut, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was interviewed by "New TV". His Eminence said, "In spite of the "Israeli" horrification, we're not heading to a second round of the War. We've actually made a decision to maintain ourselves disciplined, and we shan't allow the "Israeli" enemy to draw us towards such action. We are to support the Lebanese Army, help it to perform its missions, and avoid doing anything that may embarrass the Army. As for the UNIFIL, we have no problem with its fulfillment of its missions." Sayyed Nasrallah added that neither would he have any problem with meeting with Kofi Annan had it not been for the security arrangements. His Eminence pointed out that MP Berri was still in charge of debating and negotiating the issue of the "Israeli" captives so as to reach the convenient outcome.

On the 28th of August, Berri received the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and his staff. Annan reiterated the talk his representatives had said in regard to the necessity of fulfilling the UN Resolution 1701, respecting "The Blue Line", and maintaining no arms in the region of the UNIFIL's deployment. As well, Annan reiterated that he would help break the siege of the Lebanese ports and reach a resolution concerning the issue of the "Israeli" captives; also that he would have a round in the region to see what could be done with respect to the issue of the Shebaa Farms.

In return, MP Berri reiterated to him that Lebanon maintained its reservations yet abided by Resolution 1701 after the conventional approval of it by the government. Berri added that the Lebanese Army was sent to the South Litany Region but that "Israel" was obstructing the fulfillment of Resolution 1701, whereby the continuous "Israeli" attacks, especially against Bekaa, as well as the unbearable siege, represented a scandalous violation. Berri said, "I am personally going to carry out a widened move in order to break the siege.

And Your Excellency - the Secretary General needs to show me the standard of Resolution 1701 stating any kind of siege. You must as well know that in accordance with "The April Understanding" ("The Grapes of Wrath Understandings"), it is of our right to perform operations against the Occupation forces as long as they're present on our territories. We, however, are not doing so in order to facilitate the fulfillment of Resolution 1701. But this is not going to be always so! As for the issue of the Shebaa Farms, who in the first place asked "Israel" to replace Syria and us and occupy them?! Let's suppose that Syria claims their property, so what does "Israel" have to do with that? We've requested that the United Nations be present while the publishing of the borders is carried out and the people of the Shebaa Farms are there. I believe this is the easiest solution."

Now Annan asked for some privacy time with MP Berri, during which he asked, "Do you think that Hizbullah agrees to hand over the "Israeli" captives to us in case we guarantee the handing over of the Lebanese captives a month later?"
So Berri replied, "I don't think this is possible at all. It is required that negotiations be held until a bargain is made and mechanisms are set."
"Do you think that Syria might approve of diplomatic exchange with Lebanon?" asked Annan.

"It's been long since the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad declared that Syria supported the diplomatic relations." Berri replied.
Afterwards, Annan met with Haj Muhammad Fneish (Minister of energy and Hizbullah's representative in the government) and listened to Hizbullah's point of view regarding Resolution 1701.

Berri Carries Out Parliamentary Sit-in against Siege 

By now, "Israel" had officially declared the continuity of the siege - reported the representatives of the UN secretary general. Actually, the United States clearly adopted this stance in an attempt to invest it politically to push Lebanon towards direct negotiations with "Israel". Yet, the clearness of this stance represented a response for some local political sides that had promoted hurriedness to offer commitments to "Israel", considering that breaking the siege would definitely take place; for instance, Premier Siniora had considered that breaking the siege would only be ‘a matter of days'.

On the 31st of August, 2006, the commemoration of the abduction of Sayyed Moussa Sadr and his two companions (in 1978) was outstanding with respect to the time of War as hundreds of thousands of Lebanese people participated in this commemoration to iterate the will to live the triumph in spite of the demolition and bloodshed; also to iterate that the South was their basic cause. 

Delivering his speech on this occasion, MP Berri called for an open parliamentary sit-in until the "Israeli" air and maritime siege was broken. As well, Berri asked the government to conduct flights to Beirut International Airport and the states in good terms with Lebanon to conduct flights and maritime journeys to the Lebanese ports. Also, Berri confirmed he stood by the government as to the fulfillment of Resolution 1701 and enabling the Lebanese Army to perform its missions, in addition to our firm right to resist the enemy until the perfect liberation of the Lebanese territories. He said, "In my name, the name of my jihadist brother His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and in the name of the forces that believe in the resistance scheme, we - through the National Dialogue Conference - are going to establish a defense strategy for Lebanon."

Early in the morning of Saturday, September 2, 2006, MP Berri packed some of his stuff and headed to the building of the Lebanese Parliament in the Nejmeh Square, where parliamentarians of different parliamentary blocs had taken their places in the rooms and offices of the suite of the Speaker of the Parliament, staying there for day and night shifts.

As for Berri, he was going to stay there after he had made room for his sleep in the side of the big saloon of his office.

Different committees held wide communications with the embassies of the five permanent member states of the United Nations, with the embassies of the Arab states that maintained different relations with "Israel", with "The Tripartite Arab Committee", and with the Qatari minister of foreign affairs. The reactions varied, yet most of them encouraged the Lebanese step: France and Britain encouraged Lebanon to resort to the UNSC, but the United States advised Lebanon not to do so. China considered that the "Israeli" siege contradicted with Resolution 1701, and Russia expressed its consolidation with Lebanon yet did not make a stance on Lebanon's resort to the UNSC. As for the UN Secretary General's Personal Representative for Lebanon Geir Pedersen, he opposed the idea. 

The daily meetings with Premier Fouad Siniora revealed that certain sides claiming they wanted to help break the siege were pushing towards sending a message to the UN, whereby Lebanon would request that the UNSC make the UNIFIL do maritime surveillance. This, in fact, required a long time; whereby Premier Siniora really tried to convince MP Berri of this, sending his Senior Aide Dr. Muhammad Shatah twice to discuss this issue with Berri; however, no agreement was reached, and an extended parliamentary session resulted in the resolution that the government would complain to the UNSC without asking it to hold a session.
Afterwards, the Parliament debated the way to deal with the UNSC and make the request aforementioned. So did the government later, and an unconventional resolution was made.

Actually, the parliamentary sit-in received wide attention, and it did influence the foreign public opinion. Also, Arab and international figures participated widely, delivering speeches and sending consolidation messages, and various influential public and some labor forces carried out supportive movements. While still in the Parliament, Berri continued to receive several delegations until Wednesday, September 6, the day we were informed that the air siege would be broken on Thursday, September 7. 

On Thursday, MP Berri met with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, and they concentrated on making use of the current atmospheres in order to keep up with the issue of the Shebaa Farms and resolve the case.
At 6:00 PM, celebrations were held in and out of the Parliament, and a Middle-East-Flights plane made a round flight above the Parliament to declare the end of the siege. By now, we had ended another chapter of long and harsh confrontation with our enemy that delayed ending the maritime siege two other days.

Berri-Nasrallah Meeting: Grander than Grand Summits 

MP Berri packed his stuff now that he had continued what he had begun during the War by creating all kinds of media and political pressures on the enemy to fail its schemes. Now Berri was back where he, as well as the Lebanese people, would undertake many rounds versus certain political sides of the Lebanese interior, which would be much harder than the rounds versus the foreign enemy...
The days following the cease-fire briefed their lines, but their proceedings are preserved; whereby the stories they tell do not change the facts about ‘the wars' that we lived through 33 days; the oppression of certain Lebanese sides that were supposed to be close to us presented much more bitterness than the oppression of the foreign sides.

The beginnings of the last ten days of that month were the last days MP Berri, Haj Hussein Khalil, and I met with each other. Then, we rode the car to Beirut Southern Suburb, where I would be present daily in the post-war period, walking along its streets and seeing its people. But those moments made me have a different view of the Suburb as the scene of every demolished building represented a stage that our eyes could detect as they looked for the new life that the triumph had brought about. 

No special notion was made, yet finely orderly the door of the shelter of a high building among other demolished ones was opened, and we felt as if we had been touring a collective exposition before our elevator reached the fifth floor. The elevator door was opened, and we stepped to the door of a humble apartment, where Sayyed Hassan had been standing and waiting for us! I froze, and MP Berri and Sayyed Hassan hugged each other tightly. By now, I - who had probably attended all of their meetings ever since Sayyed Hassan became Hizbullah Secretary General - felt as if I were watching a scene that no summit or meeting was like! 

Haj Hussein Khalil and I kept standing, watching these two men as they kept shaking hands and patting each other's shoulders; in an instance, their eyes retold the story of the War and steadfastness... It was a salutation of much privacy and little talk as questions were altered into looks and answers into gestures that briefed all answers of the world... 

A long talk took place during the dinner that included the same food menu we had been familiar with having in our meetings; Sayyed Hassan said, "The "Frakeh" reminds us of the South - just like it did in the days of the War. So do the Southern pomegranates." (The "Frakeh" is prepared by mixing raw, mashed meet with burghul [bulgur wheat grains] and adding salt; also adding marjoram sometimes.) 

It was a meeting of sweetness and bitterness; of studying the history and actuality of the events and reflection on the future ones; of enduring the wound that certain political sides had caused. "Probably it isn't the time yet to make this stance," said Berri to Sayyed Hassan, hoping that His Eminence would delay it until the right time - probably some months later. That meeting did have special proceedings after all of the other meetings proceedings. By now, the relation between the Head of the Amal Movement Berri and Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Nasrallah had become even tighter and given strength, unity, and immunity to our country. 

All in all, MP Berri advised Sayyed then to reflect on appearing in public to exult at the triumph, for Berri was afraid of "Israel's" treachery. Yet, when he noticed Sayyed's insistence, he said, "Regarding that we're obliged to our people, I shall only tell Your Eminence that Allah the Almighty is the keeper."
Berri also said, "Yes, Sayyed Hassan, we're politically triumphant, and the world cannot deny this; maybe the world is exulting at it. Yet, certain sides in Lebanon insist on promoting theories of defeatism rather than allowing you to seem triumphant."

The same talk has been revealed in the first episode of the July-War Secrets: "We cannot exult at this triumph as certain Lebanese sides that have become familiar with defeatism cannot digest it!"

Source: As-Safir newspaper, Translated and edited by moqawama.org