Mashnouk: Crisis not over

The crisis in Lebanon is not over, Interior and Municipalities Minister, Nouhad Mashnouk, said on Friday.

"The crisis in Lebanon is external rather than internal; it requires calm and serious treatment to strengthen stability and spare the country from any sort of external siege," the Minister said in a televised interview.

Moreover, the Interior Minister stressed that the Arab world and the international community could no longer accept the idea of having Hezbollah continue playing roles outside Lebanon.

Touching on his so-called secret visit to Cairo, Mashnouk said that it only paved the way for Prime Minister Saad Hariri's visit to Cairo.

"The visit was not held in secret. I traveled from Beirut airport and did not travel in an underwater submarine. I went for hours to Egypt, whose president is balanced and wise, and whose policy supports the stability of Lebanon," Mashnouk explained.

Furthermore, Mashnouk called on the Lebanese political sides to acknowledge the existence of a Lebanese-Arab political crisis over Hezbollah's policy outside of Lebanon.

"Placing this issue on the table of negotiations has become substantial. The Prime Minister is keen on engaging in negotiations pertaining to self-dissociation, its strategy, and its rules in the concerned states," he added.

The Minister went on to say that the Lebanese President and House Speaker were not far in thought pertaining to the means to discuss Lebanon's dissociation policy with the Prime Minister.

Also, Mashnouk said that Saudi Arabia was not outside the framework of the Arab and international understandings that were currently taking place, and affirmed that the KSA also read between the lines of Hariri's decision to reconsider his resignation

Source: NNA