The Swiss embassy in Lebanon announced the postponement of a dinner that was supposed to bring together Lebanon’s main political parties after unconfirmed media reports about the event stirred political controversy in the country.
The dinner has been postponed to a later date.
“Over the last couple of months, Switzerland was in contact with the full spectrum of political Lebanese as well as regional and international actors to prepare for consultative discussions, not for a dialogue conference,” the embassy said in a statement.
“The planned discussions are the result of previous consultations with the full spectrum of political Lebanese as well as regional and international actors, and in full respect of the Taef agreement and the Lebanese constitution,” it added.
The embassy also said that the informal dinner that was supposed to take place today, Tuesday, at the Swiss residence aimed to further brainstorm with various Lebanese political actors.
It noted that the names circulated in the media do not reflect the actual invitees.
Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari for his part posted a tweet that apparently came in response to the media reports about the conference.
“The National Reconciliation Accord is a binding contract for laying the foundations of the pluralistic Lebanese entity, and the alternative to it will not be another accord but a dismantling of the bonds of coexistence and the demise of the unified country, which will be replaced by entities that do not resemble Lebanon the message,” he said.
