Lebanese Factions Justify Helping Syria Interfere in Lebanon
Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra said that the Lebanese Forces does not want to obstruct reconciliation, especially with the Marada movement.
He said that there was concern about interference by other factions into the reconciliation sought by the Maronite League, after practical progress had been made in arranging a meeting between the Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Marada leader Sleiman Franjieh.
In an interview with NOW Lebanon on Wednesday, Zahra said that Lebanese Forces responded “immediately” to the efforts of the Maronite League.
He said that a plan has been made for reconciliation to start by addressing “hot points”, including the Bsarma incident, where clashes between the Lebanese Forces and Marada on September 17 left one supporter from each party dead.
The plan was for the meetings to broaden into a wider political debate, said Zahra, adding that the Lebanese Forces has begun to wonder whether some domestic and foreign factions were starting to try to obstruct reconciliation, on the basis that “they have no interest in intra-Christian understanding.”
Zahra also said that the Lebanese Forces awaits the renewal of Maronite efforts to resolve complaints from Marada that arose last week after the Maronite League issued a press release saying that the reconciliation of the Lebanese Forces and Marada movements should happen as a matter of priority.
He said that the Lebanese Forces was ready to meet with Marada and is waiting to set a time. “If the others refuse, communications should be mobilized again to find the way to reconciliation,” he said.
Zahra said that communication with Change and Reform leader MP Michel Aoun had never been cut, and there had been no dispute about whether it was necessary for him to attend the Lebanese Forces-Marada reconciliation.
He questioned Franjieh’s insistence that Aoun attends the meeting, pointing out that Aoun himself had declared that he had no problem with anybody and needed no reconciliation with anyone; however, Zahra said, Aoun had clarified his statement by claiming that he was ready to attend the reconciliation if his allies wanted him to.
Zahra asked Aoun whether he will take responsibility for his allies’ actions that led to the need for reconciliation and declared that the purpose of the meeting was to “organize the dispute” in such a way that it does not turn into violence.
Zahra said that Hezbollah wanted to obstruct reconciliation. The president, the Maronite league and the Maronite Patriarch are in favor of good intra-Christian relations, but “Hezbollah is interested in obstructing reconciliation,” Zahra said.
Zahra also said, “We are cautious concerning the Syrian deployment at the borders; however, we have full confidence that neither the international community nor the regional community want Syria to interfere in Lebanon again.”
He said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s statement that the North of Lebanon was a hotbed of al-Qaeda and a danger to Syria was worrying, especially since some domestic factions issued similar statements, “as if they were helping the Syrian president to justify his interference in Lebanon.”
Zahra said he was disappointed with, “those narrow political calculations of Lebanese factions,” asking how people could bring themselves to helping Syria justify interfering in Lebanon again.