"No calls from Syria? No nothing!"

Link

The flaky heiress of the Washington Post family talks to the cerebral heir of the Kingdom of Lebanon, in NEWSWEEK, here

WEYMOUTH: How are you feeling after your victory?

HARIRI: I am feeling great.

Do you believe that President Obama's Cairo speech had an effect on your victory?

No, I think the Lebanese people were really involved in the local politics of Lebanon.

You are talking about Iran, correct?
Iran and other countries. As much as people say that the Palestinians are divided, so is Israel. Israelis need to make a decision about the peace process. At the end of the day, for the sake of humanity and for the sake of security and the region, everybody should sacrifice a little bit.

When you say you will reach out to all the parties, does that mean you will reach out to Hezbollah?
Yes, we will reach out to all political parties. This is something we need to deal with.

Will Hezbollah be in the government?
We would like to see a government that includes everybody but a government that works.

So you don't think Hezbollah will say they have a veto?
I don't want to make people take a position before we even get to the negotiating table. We have seen the negativity of a blocking minority. We haven't seen any positivity from it.

What do you hope your relationship with Syria will be?
One thing that we have achieved that we did not have in the previous Parliament is that we have reached a diplomatic relationship with Syria--we have an embassy.

Isn't it true that a lot of Lebanese don't feel warmly about Syria?
I know. But the United States is engaging with Syria. The Europeans are engaging with Syria. We are neighbors with Syria.

Do you think it is a mistake for the United States to engage with them?
No, we have benefited from this engagement. We got an embassy when France engaged with Syria.

The Syrians haven't shown a big interest in that to date, have they?
We will see. Time will tell.

Is Syria the big loser in your victory?
I think whoever was betting on a foreign agenda is the loser. Our agenda was purely focused on the Lebanese people.

Did the Syrians or Iranians call to congratulate you?
The Iranian Ambassador called me today.

No calls from Syria?
No, nothing.

So they weren't too happy?
Would you be?

You think you can deal with Hezbollah?
Yes we can. Nothing is easy in life.

How old are you now?
I am 39 going on 60.

Posted by G, Z, & or B at 9:32 PM