Berri blamed the ongoing political crises on the Inter Arab disagreements.
"Good relations between Saudi Arabia and Syria are important not only for solving the Lebanese political crisis but also for solving the problems in Iraq, Palestine and for peace in the Middle East"
He accused the United states of opposing the Arab initiative from the beginning
" The US was against the Arab initiative from the very beginning and still rejects it", Berri said
This claim was denied by Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and said the initiative is purely Arabic and the US was never consulted about it
Berri accused the US of sending the ship to the Mediterranean sea to support Israeli offensive in Gaza . he added : "I was also told that it is directed against Syria, in this case why it is off the Lebanese coast and not the Syrian coast unless it is really directed against Gaza as I suspected"
The Speaker claimed that when he learned about the Arab initiative he assumed it calls for a government of 10 - 10 - 10 ( 10 ministers for the opposition, 10 for the president and 10 for the ruling majority , but was shocked when he found out it was 10 - 7 -13 ( 10 ministers for the opposition, 7 for the president and 13 for the ruling majority). He insists that the government should be equally divided between the 3 factions .
Regarding the electoral law Berri claimed the opposition backed the 1960 law which was based on the Qathaa ( county) but was rejected by the majority
According to the ruling majority this law does not facilitate the elections of Christians by Christians and had it been applied not even one half of the Christian MPs would be in the parliament today
Berri's response to the majority " if this is your concern... so long to the unity of the Lebanese "
Berri said "as far as Amal movement is concerned we prefer to have all of Lebanon as one voting district and let the parliament members be allocated on proportional basis "
Berri said the opposition supports the presidency of army General Michel Suleiman
Berri said "the Parliament is closed in the face of the illegal and unconstitutional government but it is wide open for electing a president"
Berri accused the United States of blocking the elections to divert attention from the problems in Gaza
When Berri started his interview gun shots were fired by his supporters in Beirut despite his appeal against such action yesterday.
Berri said the assassination of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh is a flagrant breach of UN resolution 1701
Mughniyeh was assassinated in Damascus . Israel was accused of being behind the assassination , but his widow , who is an Iranian citizen said after arriving in Tehran that Syria helped Israel in assassinating Mughniyeh
Berri said the opposition will continue to support the arab initiative till the time of the Arab summit and then he threatened that " if the Arab summit in Damascus is canceled the opposition will adopt a series of measures " he did not explain what he meant , but was understood by local observers to mean the escalation of riots and violence.
Saudi Arabian and Egyptian leaders threatened to boycott the summit if Syria did not cooperate over the election of army chief general Michel Suleiman . Other Arab leaders were expected to follow suit specially Jordan and Arabian Gulf region ; Kuwait, UAE & Bahrain
Berri blamed the sectarianism in Lebanon for being behind the political crises.
An analyst commented by saying " Berri is to blame , since he and Hezbollah represent one religious sect in Lebanon while the majority represent all the three sects ; Muslims , Christians and Druze
Finally Berri accused Israel of seeking retaliation for its defeat in July 2006 war on Lebanon
As soon as he finished his interview more gun shots were fired by his supporters.
the interview started at 8: 30 PM and ended at 11: 00 PM
Unity Government
During the last quartet meeting the 10-10-10 formula was proposed but General Michel Aoun insisted that one of the 10 ministers of the president be picked by the opposition. Aoun proposed giving the president a list of 3 names of opposition candidates and ask him (the president) to pick one . This was rejected by the ruling majority on the basis that it will give the opposition the blocking one third or veto power over the decisions by the government.
Regarding the government of Prime minister Fouad Siniora Aoun was asked yesterday if it is legal and he said it is legal . this contradicts with Berri's statement today. Berri said also that Siniora government was legal during his visit to Iran , but changed his mind the following day while still in Tehran and declared it illegal