Aoun For Demonstration to Topple Government, Supports Hizbullah in Kesrouan and Byblos
Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun called for demonstrations on Wednesday to topple Premier Fouad Saniora”s government, praised Hizbullah”s weapons and said monitoring Beirut airport is not a security violation.
However, he stressed: "Rioting is banned. Security forces are responsible for banning riots, not preventing demonstrations."
Aoun, talking to reporters after the weekly meeting by members of his Change and Reform Bloc, said calls to elect a president prior to agreeing on a general elections law "be they made by secular or religious" circles are tantamount to "conspiring against the Christians and seeking to marginalize them."
He was referring, among others, to Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir who had repeatedly said electing a president is a priority.
Achieving a quorum of two thirds of MP”s for electing a president is conditional to acceptance by the majority of giving the Hizbullah-led opposition veto rights in the new government.
"Two thirds for 11+19," Aoun said in reference to the formation of a future government.
He warned against electing a president by simple majority saying such a practice is tantamount to "a coup that would be confronted by another coup."
Aoun also defended Hizbullah”s private communications network, claiming, "There are other private communications networks than Hizbullah”s." He did not name them, however.
"Finding a camera on airport road is not a security penetration," Aoun said.
"The road to Bekfaya is full of cameras and they monitor us all the time," he added.
He also said the "crisis that Lebanon faces is … where the government is based."
"We would not leave the nation as it was in the past three years," Aoun pledged.
Aoun defended Hizbullah”s activity in Kesrouan and Byblos (Jobeil) provinces, noting: "Lebanese Forces exist in Rmeish and Qleiaa (south Lebanon) and they move freely. Why Hizbullah shouldn”t move in Kesrouan and Byblos?" he asked.
He launched a vehement attack on Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat for having disclosed that Hizbullah”s communications network has reached Kesrouan and Byblos provinces.
"Who is Walid Jumblat to provoke Kesrouan and Byblos? Jumblat is factional and bloody," according to Aoun.
"Has the army been penetrated so that its reports can reach Jumblat and (Communications Minister Marwan) Hamade?" Aoun asked.
Aoun launched a vehement attack on the leading daily an-Nahar claiming it has abandoned its "ethical principles and does not derserve to be read anymore. It has become a propaganda bulletin for March 14."
He defended Hizbullah weapons as "subject to good conduct certificate."
He reiterated that the killing of two Phalange Party members in Zahle is "an individual crime and not politically-motivated. It happened between two armed men."