There is a strange duality in the way Saudi Arabia and its Lebanese allies treat Syria and Mr. Nabih Berri.

It is a given in many Lebanese circles that the opposition is organically linked to Syria. Many Lebanese -including pundits- fall too commonly into caricature by believing that a simple puppeteer-puppet relationship exists between Damascus and its Lebanese allies.

But the frequent opening up to Mr. Nabih Berri -a supposed Syrian lackey- by Saudi Arabia and the majority keep robbing us of this facile world view.

Yesterday, it seemed surreal that right after Mr. Ghanem was killed, the majority angrily let it known that Syria was to blame, but then went ahead and kept their hands extended to Mr. Berri’s initiative, and the Saudi Ambassador and Mr. Hariri went as far as calling him.

To many, it seems naive to separate Mr. Berri from Syria, as Syria itself reminded us that it’s behind Mr. Berri’s latest initiative. The question is, does Saudi Arabia know something about Mr. Berri that we don’t ?