Elie Hourani
Daily Star staff

Prime Minister Rafik Hariri described Lebanon’s current political atmosphere as satisfactory and predicted that the positive climate would continue next year.
Speaking at a dinner hosted in his honor by the Armenian Liberal Democratic Party, the Ramgavar, Hariri called on the country’s leaders to help the Lebanese people realize their dreams next year.
He also said Lebanese politicians should provide more jobs in order to avoid any worsening of the employment situation in the country.
He predicted that the deterioration in the regional security situation would not negatively affect Lebanon domestically.
Commenting on the situation in Israel and the Occupied Territories, Hariri said that all Lebanese were interested in what was taking place there, but he predicted that Lebanon would not get any fallout from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I do not expect the situation to deteriorate rapidly because there is a certain balance of terror in the region that prevents Israel from starting a war against the Arabs in the foreseeable future,” the prime minister said. He also condemned the shooting of two Lebanese people in Ghajar earlier this week.
“I don’t think that peace can be achieved under the current Israeli government, because it does not want peace,” Hariri said.
Regarding the US-led war against Iraq Hariri said that “Lebanon was little affected by it,” adding that he had predicted that this would be the case before the war began.
He said that the situation in Iraq was worsening and there was continuous instability. He called for a more substantial role for the UN and for Iraqis to have more influence in decisions.