MP Chehayeb holds Syria accountable for USS Cole deployment

 

Member of the Democratic Gathering bloc MP Akram Chehayeb said that the American guided-missile destroyer moved from the shores of Malta to the international waters off the Lebanon-Syria coasts. He expressed his surprise at the uproar around the subject, recalling that the US has always been present in the region and that they announced the USS Cole deployment was to ensure the security and stability of the region. 

 

Chehayeb said the Lebanese government did not dictate the policies of how American fleets moved across the globe. The USS Cole gave Syria and Hezbollah “an additional argument to justify their actios and deeds, with the knowledge that the regional waters were open to them before UN Security Council Resolution 1701, as Lebanon is open to Iran, Syria and their militias.”

 

“Syria disabled Lebanon’s constitutional life and turned the country into a no man’s land. Syria’s insistence on undermining Lebanon brought such fleets to our shores. This is similar to what happened after Syria insisted on the extensions of president Emile Lahoud’s term in office in 2004… Today, Damascus again holds responsibility for the disruption of political life in Lebanon,” Chehayeb stated.

 

Chehayeb recalled that the American army arrived to Iraq as a result of Saddam Hussein’s “despotic trusteeship,” comparing the situation to the Syrian Baath party’s aspirations today.

 

“We hold firmly to our belief in a democratic Lebanon… The Arab initiative will result in the election of a President of the Republic and the re-activation of legitimate constitutional institutions,” he continued, noting that no obstacles were insurmountable as long as there was consensus around the presidential candidate.

 

MP Chehayeb ended by calling for the election of Army Commander General Michel Sleiman next President of the Republic.