Islamic Jamaa Breaks Alliance with Hariri, Considers All Options

The Lebanese Islamic Jamaa confirmed Tuesday it has reached a "dead end" with the Future Movement over the formation of an electoral alliance, but said it was exploring other options.

"We have exhausted all means possible to achieve dialogue with Future Movement," the group's politburo said in a statement following a lengthy meeting on Monday.

"Deliberations reached a dead end and the Jamaa finds itself open to other options that will take into account the best interest of its political principles ... which do not include a withdrawal" from the polls as in 2005.

The statement said the two parties had agreed to include two Jamaa candidates in the joint tickets. "This was the extent of negotiations," the statement said.

Earlier, Lebanese daily As-Safir quoted the Jamaa's sources as saying that excluding the group's candidate Sami al-Khatib from the West Bekaa election ticket "closed all doors for dialogue between the two sides."