Michel Will Run In 2009 Elections
MP Nayla Mouawad, speaking after the 19th anniversary of the assassination of her husband, late President René Mouawad, announced that she would not seek reelection in the 2009 parliamentary elections. However, she said that candidates for her home area of Zgharta would include her son Michel, current MP Jawad Boulos and Youssef al-Douwaihi.
In an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah on Monday, Mouawad said that Syria was behind all assassinations in Lebanon, including those committed by the militant group Fatah al-Islam. While Mouawad called for normal relations with Syria, she said they should be based on diplomatic ties, the exchange of embassies and a rejection of the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council.
She also called for Christian reconciliation and said that the political disagreements were acceptable so long as they didn’t involve the use of weapons.
She added that the Syrian State TV broadcast earlier this month, accusing the Future Movement of financing the militant group Fatah al-Islam, was intended the frighten the people of Lebanon with the specter of “Sunni Terrorism,” and divert attention of Hezbollah’s actions during the May events.
She said that the defense strategy proposed by Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun would destroy Lebanon by putting weapons in the hands of all.