BEIRUT - Former President Amin Gemayel said on Wednesday that he will be soon meeting with MP Michel Murr to discuss possible ways of cooperating in the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for June 7. Speaking at a news conference at the Phalange Party headquarters in Beirut, Gemayel added that he was also open to cooperating with the Armenian Tashnak Party.

"Despite deep wounds, we are ready to cooperate with the Tashnak based on the circumstances of the electoral battle," the former president said.

Gemayel's relations with the Armenian party reached their lowest level during the Metn by-election in 2007, when the majority of Armenians voted against Gemayel, who was running to replace his slain son, former Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.

The former president lost the election to MP Camille Khoury of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM).

Gemayel's announcement came in line with earlier remarks by Murr, who said that his main allies in the qada of Metn would be the Phalange and Tashnak.

The Phalange leader also urged FPM chief MP Michel Aoun to return to his principles.

"I wish Aoun would return to being himself. We were together when we fought for independence and sovereignty. I wish Aoun would return to the principles that brought us together on March 14, 2005," he said.

He added that people would have to choose in the elections between a party that wants positive neutrality for Lebanon and another party which wants the country to be part of regional alliances.

Gemayel also defended Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir against recent criticism by March 8 politicians.

The last such criticism was made by Aoun, who said on Tuesday that the patriarch "does not speak for the Christians."

"Bkirki should not be criticized ... We cannot forget that the Cedar Revolution of 2005 was launched on the basis of Bkirki's stances in 2000," Gemayel said, referring to a Maronite Bishops statement which called on Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon.

Earlier this week, Sfeir had warned against "historical mistakes" if the March 8 Forces would win the majority of seats in the upcoming elections.

The patriarch's position drew criticism from Aoun, who accused him of siding with the March 14 alliance.

Also Wednesday, March 14 leaders who gathered at Future Movement chief MP Saad Hariri's residence in Qoreitem urged their supporters to participate heavily in the February 14 mass rally to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

A statement released after the meeting called on the Lebanese people to "reject all threats and reiterate their commitment to Lebanon's independence and sovereignty."

"Your participation in commemorating our martyrs will prove your loyalty to Lebanon and your support to the international tribunal to try suspects in the Hariri murder," it added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Hariri told Al-Massira magazine that Syrian would not be allowed to restore its hegemony over Lebanon. "No matter how hard it tries, Syria will not go back to exercising hegemony over Lebanon," he said in remarks to be published on Thursday.

Later in the day, Hariri told dignitaries of the North who visited him in Qoreitem that the March 14 Forces will run in the upcoming elections to enforce state formation in Lebanon.

Also Wednesday, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told students who visited him at his residence in Beirut that he supported an electoral law that is based on proportional representation. The current law is based on a majority-vote system.

The speaker earlier said that he was forced to accept such a law to satisfy the Maronite Church and his Christian allies.

Berri stressed that a new law would lead to the "gradual elimination of sectarianism from the hearts, minds and souls."

"The process of eliminating sectarianism should start in schools ... It all starts when we begin to learn from the same history book," he said. -Daily Star