❊ Hariri’s Non-Denial Denial

Hariri’s Future movement is doing a delicate dance in responding to Sayyed Nassrallah.

Hezbollah’s leader claimed that Mr. Hariri had told him that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was about to indict “rogue” Hezbollah members. In responding to those claims, Mr. Hariri wants to mollify his outraged base, which perceived an act of treason to the cause of finding out who killed Hariri the father.

At the same time, Mr. Hariri wants to keep things calm with Hezbollah. He didn’t want to make a loud, clear-cut denial, because Hezbollah’s supporters appreciated Mr. Hariri’s supposed disclosure.

Mr. Hariri didn’t hastily arrange a press conference to refute, in clear language, what Mr. Nassrallah had said. Instead, he let his minions tell the press that Sayyed Nassrallah’s claims are not true. Mr. Hariri focused his own pronouncements (Arabic) largely on keeping things calm in Lebanon.

Hezbollah, which is in a delicate position and nervous about a Saudi-Syrian rapprochement, is not a fan of vague political positions. This is why they’re trying to bring back certainty to the fray.

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Note: Posts with titles starting with an ❊ (asterisk) are my opinion posts. I used this system to separate long posts from quick links and comments.