BEIRUT: Future parliamentary bloc leader MP Fouad Siniora praised Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri over the weekend for his speech on the occasion of the commemoration of Musa Sadr.

“Siniora held a telephone conversation with Berri Saturday before noon and praised him on the speech he made during the commemoration of Imam Musa Sadr in Nabatieh in terms of his stressing national and Islamic unity, a rejection of strife and calling for the higher Arab interests.”

Berri warned Friday of sectarian strife in Lebanon and urged national unity to prevent the reverberations of the 17-month turmoil in Syria from spilling over into the politically divided country.

Berri spoke at a mass rally organized by his Amal Movement in the southern market town of Nabatieh to commemorate the 34th anniversary of Sadr’s disappearance. The rally, attended by Sadr’s sister Rabab and eldest son Sadereddine, ministers and Hezbollah and Amal MPs, drew thousands of Amal supporters.

The Sidon MP expressed Saturday hope “that this speech will be a start for continuing of contacts in the future.”