BEIRUT -- Lebanese Sunni majority leader Saad Hariri refused Tuesday any direct talks with Israel, saying it is not in the "national interest to do so".

Hariri voiced the refusal while speaking to reporters after his meeting with Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfier, head of the Christian Maronite church.

"We will not engage in direct talks with Israel because the national interest requires that," Hariri was quoted as saying.

Hariri was referring to a suggestion made by Christian leader Michel Aoun, a close ally of the pro-Syrian opposition Hezbollah. Aoun has called for negotiating with Israel in Syria's presence.

Talking about talks between Syria and Israel, Hariri expressed his hope that peace would achieved between the two sides "because we are not against peace provided it is a just."

While Hariri opposes talks, others in his political bloc see the merits of entering the peace process. Amin al-Gemayel, the country's Christian leader, said on Monday the best solution to the sectarian conflict in Lebanon was to demand a strategy for peace rather than for defense.

Hariri, meanwhile, opposed the existence of the opposition in Lebanon, saying all parties should be represented in the government.

"The opposition can not be in the government and criticize it at the same time, this is in contradiction," Hariri added.

The Lebanese opposition is represented in the cabinet by one third plus one, having veto power according to the system of the country.

On May 22, Israel and Syria announced that they were engaged in negotiations for a comprehensive peace treaty through Turkish mediators.

Lebanese officials have always said that they will be the last to sign a peace treaty with Israel.

Hariri supported Sfeir's call for Lebanon to be sovereign and make its own decisions, adding that Sfeir "is Lebanon's conscience."

Syria was Lebanon's main power-broker until 2005, when Damascus was pressured by the international community to end its 30-year military and political influence on Lebanon, following the February, 2005 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.

Hariri, the father of Saad Hariri, was killed in massive bomb blast in Beirut. Syria was widely blamed for the Hariri assassination, a charge Damascus still denies.

Hariri confirmed that Lebanon's 2009 parliamentary elections, due in May, would be held on time, with democracy and transparency as their basis. -With agencies