Parliament's 'Free-Geagea' Session May be Held Next Week

The Lebanese Forces has asked Speaker Berri to set a date Friday for a legislative sitting of the new parliament to vote speedily on a bill of parole that will release LF commander Samir Geagea from the defense ministry prison in Yarze by the end of the month. The request was made by LF legislator George Adwan after the justice ministry resolved on Thursday that the new legislature is constitutionally capable of holding legislative sittings as long as the country is without a reigning government without a need for a Presidential decree to open the session. However President Lahoud and caretaker Premier Mikati, who met at the Baabda palace Thursday to discuss the issue, issued a decree Friday calling an extraordinary session of parliament that lasts through Oct. 17. Press reports said LF legislators held overnight consultations with allies in Saad Hariri's Tayyar Al Mustaqbal, Walid Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party and Qornet Shahwan, reaching a consensus for a collective campaign of pressure to have the 'free-Geagea' session held early next week. Speaker Berri told As Safir he still stands by his commitment to convene the Geagea session by July's end, but said the first session of the parliament should be devoted to the election of the committees, after which it becomes possible to discuss a specific date for Geagea's meeting.