Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri received the French Ambassador Hervé Magro at the second presidency headquarters in Ain the Tineh, in the presence of the parliamentary speaker's advisor, Dr. Mahmoud Berri, on a farewell visit marking the end of his diplomatic duties in Lebanon. The visit was an occasion during which general conditions and political and field developments were reviewed in light of Israel's continued attacks on occupied southern Lebanese villages and towns. Sunni MPs Speaker Berri also followed up on general conditions, political developments, and legislative affairs, particularly those related to the general amnesty law, during his meeting with a delegation of Sunni MPs comprising MPs Bilal Abdullah, Adnan Traboulsi, Bilal Hachimi, Abdel Rahman Al-Bizri, Mohammad Yahya, Taha Naji, Walid Al-Baarini, Karim Kbarah, Nabil Badr, Mohammad Sleiman, Abdel Aziz Al-Samad, Imad Al-Hout, Ahmed Al-Kheir, and Qassem Hashem, in the presence of Liberation and Development parliamentary bloc member MP Ali Hassan Khalil. MP Abdullah After the meeting, MP Bilal Abdullah spoke, saying: "Today, we as the gathering of Sunni MPs in the Lebanese Parliament had the honor of meeting His Excellency President Nabih Berri, and the floor of discussion was focused on a single topic, which is the general amnesty law proposal, or what is called the general amnesty, which is fundamentally the reduction of sentences and which has been fluctuating for several months positively and negatively in the joint committees and before the General Assembly." He added: "We recorded for His Excellency the President this major national stance, which manifested when His Excellency the President canceled the parliamentary session when he did not find a consensus regarding this file, as well as his follow-up on all these details and his monitoring until we reach the required end on this issue. Our approach—true, we are Sunni MPs—is a national and humanitarian approach to this file." He continued: "We are trying to address the file because of the laxity of some judiciary and the arbitrariness of some judiciary in the Military Court in particular, and at the same time because of the injustice that befalls thousands of people, not just Islamists. The Islamists might be a minority, but our national and humanitarian approach manifested in our insistence on reaching the required end with this file. What we accomplished in our meeting was the agreement on some amendments required so that there would be justice and clarity in the results of this proposal, so that the largest number of untried prisoners—who number in the thousands and not the hundreds—would benefit from it." Abdullah went on: "The formula we reached as a result of drafting with the gathering of Sunni MPs found a great welcome and an open mind from His Excellency President Nabih Berri, along with a clear understanding in its political and legal depth at the same time. Our meeting was very successful, and it is an opportunity to say that this issue is linked to our keenness as a gathering of Sunni MPs to preserve the personal right of everyone who has a claim regarding an ordinary crime of murder, rape, or political assassination; we preserved it, we did not touch it, and we insisted that there be a separation between the aggravated life sentence proposed with the death penalty and the ordinary life sentence, and at the same time, we were keen that there be clarity on the issue of sentences." Abdullah added: "This meeting accomplished this mission, and we found all understanding with His Excellency the President. From this platform, we send greetings to everyone who helped in this issue, starting from His Excellency President Joseph Aoun, to His Excellency Prime Minister Bou Saab [note: title contextually refers to official], His Excellency Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and all political blocs. This issue is par excellence national and does not affect a specific segment of people. We took this file upon ourselves so that there would be clarity, so that injustice would be lifted, and so that the entire Lebanese environment would be at ease in all its diversity and ramifications. I believe that President Berri's adoption of this issue today and his keenness that it be on the agenda of the upcoming parliamentary session is the best proof that this man possesses enough national sense and national keenness on internal unity for us to reach the required end on this issue." In response to a question about the stance of the Lebanese Forces and whether there are contacts to avoid the recurrence of the withdrawal that happened in the last session, Abdullah replied: "We consider that all our communication channels have ended as a gathering of Sunni MPs; we did what we must do with all political blocs. Certainly, we perhaps do not understand the positions of some, especially those who fought in a past era against a general amnesty and are now reserving judgment on a general amnesty. I believe there was clarification regarding the issue of withdrawal and non-withdrawal. The test is in the parliamentary session, where the positions of all political blocs will become clear. There is a prior adoption by His Excellency the President, which we cherish, for what we did regarding the clauses, and I believe that all political blocs should share it with us, because this issue touches all Lebanese, and as I said, Islamists are a minority. Lifting injustice from all untried individuals, especially Lebanese and convicts, is a national affair par excellence. It is time to ease the sectarian political approach to this file and give it the national and humanitarian dimension." Responding to a question about the Lebanese Forces' recent stance supporting the amnesty law, he said: "We heard the Lebanese Forces' statement and we welcome it, and I repeat that the test is in the parliamentary session; there the positions of all political blocs, all independents, and all MPs will become clear, and we hope this file will take national consensus." In response to a question regarding the issue of amendments to the law for people who have spent more than twelve years in prison, MP Abdullah replied: "This is inevitably a fundamental clause to release the largest possible number of the oppressed—I reiterate oppressed—because as you know, at a certain moment there was arbitrariness toward a specific environment, and we are keen as Sunni MPs to lift this arbitrariness. The legislation we carried out and the amendments we made are not tailored to fit any specific person, but rather tailored to fit the entire file in general, and whether this person or that benefits from it depends on legal procedures." Regarding the date of the legislative session, MP Abdullah replied: "The date of this session belongs to President Berri, and he says it is before August 15 and is a continuation of the previous session, and the general amnesty is part of it, and perhaps the issue of bank restructuring will be added to it if completed in the committees." Arnault Berri also received the United Nations Special Coordinator in Lebanon, Jean Arnault. Discussions touched on the latest developments regarding general conditions in Lebanon, as well as political and field developments in light of Israel's continued attacks and destruction of occupied southern Lebanese villages and towns, and its violation of the ceasefire agreement and UN Resolution 1701.