The political assistant to the Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, Deputy Ali Hassan Khaleel, responded to a statement from the Lebanese Forces party by saying, "It is good that words about President Berri were conveyed through one of the media outlets to discover the true intentions of the leader of the Lebanese Forces in confirming an attempt to separate the south from Lebanon and considering that the period of Israeli occupation in 1998 is still ongoing, despite the fact that the south was liberated with the blood of thousands of martyrs for the sake of all Lebanon." He stated in a release, "Perhaps the most dangerous aspect is his affirmation that the project of federalism exists in his mind and discourse, and he is marketing it among the Lebanese through his recent appearance or through the statements of the head of his media office about the two-state solution in Lebanon...and the response to him is in the hands of all those committed to the state, unity, and the Taif Agreement."