MP Akram Shehayeb: The Hajj assassination is a message to General Sleiman, the Arab world and the international community

 

MP Akram Shehayeb of the Democratic Gathering bloc told the Voice of Lebanon radio station that the assassination of Brigadier General François Hajj is “a message to the Lebanese army, who won the military confrontations with Fatah al-Islam. The assassins wanted the army, from where the new president will come, to pay the price.”

 

“It is also a message to the Lebanese that they will fail to elect a new president if the constitution is amended and the president is elected without the consent of regional powers,” he added.

 

“This crime is also a message to Army Commander General Michel Sleiman, who is supported by March 14 for the presidency, for Brigadier General Hajj was very close to him,” Shehayeb noted.

 

“The message is: the closest of your friends has become a martyr,” he added. “At the same time, it is a message to March 14 and the government that they can’t handle power in Lebanon,” he said.

 

“Hajj’s assassination is also a message to the international community, especially to the US and France, that Syria is the gateway to Lebanon. It is also a message to the Arab world that Syria is the key to the situation in Palestine, Iraq and in Lebanon through its Lebanese allies in March 8, mainly Hezbollah.”

 

Commenting on the contacts between Jumblatt and Speaker Nabih Berri, Shehayeb said that dialogue needs parties that are capable of negotiating.

 

“One party has commissioned MP Saad Hariri, and the other party has been placing obstacles in front of the solution,” he added.

 

Shehayeb said that Jumblatt contacted Berri after Hajj’s assassination to stress on the need to continue dialogue.