Hussein Khalil, political adviser to the secretary general of Hezbollah speaking Monday after a meeting at the headquarters of the Free Patriotic Movement, in Mirna Chalouhi. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour).
BEIRUT — Hussein Khalil, political adviser to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, said Monday that his party and the Free Patriotic Movement "are heading in the same direction," after a meeting with FPM's leader Gebran Bassil at the party's headquarters in the Mirna Chalouhi Center on the outskirts of Beirut.
"We and our brothers in the Free Patriotic Movement are heading in the same direction," Khalil said. "We discussed the agreement between Hezbollah and FPM ... The session was rich, we went over the presidential file in detail, and we will continue this important discussion."
"For us, the partnership is fundamental, and the brothers in FPM know that Hezbollah constantly watches over [this partnership]," Khalil added, noting that the Mar Mikhael Agreement signed between the two parties in 2006 "is still in place."
"We have not seen any resentment from Gebran Bassil in this regard," Khalil continued. "We are not one party, but two parties with two ways of thinking. We are working on the common points."
Khalil said further meetings will be held with between Hezbollah and the FPM.
The FPM boycotted two caretaker cabinet meetings that were convened following the end of former president Michel Aoun's term, claiming the cabinet should not meet in the absence of a president. Hezbollah ministers attended both meetings.
Wafic Safa, a senior Hezbollah official who attended the meeting, was content to say that "those who are upset by the [Mar Mikhael] agreement will not be satisfied."