Assad attempting International Tribunal- Arab Peace Initiative trade-off
National Bloc leader Carlos Eddé said he was surprised with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s reaction to Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz’s initiative for peace.
Assad had “never abided by it, but preferred to walk alone, the road to secret negotiations with Israel, and now to open talks with Turkey – with eagerness to enter into direct negotiations [with Israel,]” Eddé said after his party’s weekly meeting.
Eddé accused Assad of attempting to trade the International Tribunal for the Arab Peace Initiative, adding “the Saudi king is one of the most ardent defenders of the tribunal and of [the need for] the identification of perpetrators of the assassinations in Lebanon.”
On recent demonstrations against the Israeli offensive on Gaza outside the US Embassy in Awkar, the National Bloc said the gatherings had created popular resentment against Free Patriotic Movement leader General Michel Aoun, who “did not find words to describe what happened except to say that March 14 had started [it.]”
“Hezbollah, which has military and political experience, does not take any unplanned steps… Can you imagine if any Lebanese demonstrators headed towards the southern suburb and… chanted slogans against Hezbollah’s Secretary General?” Eddé questioned, in reference to anti-president slogans chanted outside the US Embassy.