As Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri visited Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus Sunday, Chouf MP Walid Jumblatt simultaneously met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. According to Syria's official news agency, SANA, Berri's unexpected trip to Syria came in the context of "informing Assad of the results of Lebanon's (sixth round) of the national dialogue."Berri, who heads the pro-Syrian Amal Movement, also met with Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa and "discussed the bilateral sisterly relations between Lebanon and Syria," reported SANA. Berri's media office issued a statement late Sunday which quoted Berri as saying: "The Syrians are holding the doors open to any Lebanese official, whether it is Premier Fouad Siniora or any other one." This comes as a clear reference to Siniora's long awaited visit to Damascus to discuss the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, and demarcating the borders among other unresolved issues. Until Berri's declaration, Siniora hadn't received the green light to make his trip to Syria.
Berri's statement added that Assad "is not against the principle of having diplomatic ties with Lebanon ... and that both countries' duty is to maintain good relations with each other."
Berri's visit coincided with Jumblatt's, who slammed Lebanon's resistance from Cairo, insisting that the group disarm. Jumblatt informed Mubarak of the results of Lebanon's sixth round of national dialogue and informed him the seventh round, scheduled this May 16, would discuss "Hizbullah's weapons ... and that the resistance should join the army once the issue of the Shebaa Farms is resolved." He added the Lebanese government "must control all the weapons and all its territories."