July 29, 2010 - Now Lebanon - Growing urgency for Hariri, Nasrallah to meet, says report

Al-Hayat newspaper reported on Thursday that there is a growing urgency for Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to meet in an effort to defuse political tension through dialogue.

The daily said that Hariri discussed the matter with Nasrallah’s political aide, Hussein Khalil, during their meeting on Tuesday. The two men agreed that talks on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) should be discussed calmly and away from the media, it added.

The same paper reported on Wednesday that Hariri, Nasrallah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad might hold a meeting to address matters related to the STL.

Tensions are high in the country after Nasrallah questioned the credibility of the STL in several speeches earlier this month. In a July 16 speech, the Hezbollah chief called the tribunal an “Israeli project” designed to create sectarian conflict in the country.

Last Thursday, Nasrallah claimed Hezbollah members would be named in the STL’s pending indictment. The announcement prompted fears that a sectarian conflict similar to the May 7 events in 2008 could once again break out.