A telephone call from President Michel Aoun to Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday marked the start of solutions to the political crisis that emerged after a video of Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), called Berri a thug. Efforts also triumphed on Thursday to contain tension witnessed in the area of Hadath where armed supporters of the Amal Movement and the FPM were about to clash in the streets of Beirut, evoking scenes of the famous Civil War separation lines. The Hadath scene, in addition to threats launched by Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, helped speed up efforts to contain the crisis. During his telephone call to Berri, Aoun stressed that “the current conditions and threats require folding the page of the latest events and joining hands in the benefit of Lebanon.” Aoun also announced an agreement to hold a meeting between both men next Tuesday to tackle the latest developments and the steps needed to face the Israeli threats. Prior to his phone call, Aoun met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the Presidential Palace. While the Prime Minister said that things would be positive, parliamentarian sources from the Amal Movement told Asharq Al-Awsat that what happened on Thursday is a good step towards a solution. “Better late than never,” the sources said. The Amal Movement also revealed their intention not to paralyze the constitutional institutions in Lebanon. “We will not paralyze the Cabinet, while the political conditions are not easy. We have asked our supporters to leave the streets,” Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said. In a statement issued on Thursday, the Amal Movement called “on all those who acted in a spontaneous and unorganized way, through rallies which led to clashes that do not reflect the Movements image and position, to stop any action on the streets.”