Why Hezbollah, Not Iran, Raised Diplomat Kidnapping
Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan expressed his surprise that Hezbollah raised the issue of the four kidnapped Iranian diplomats, during an interview with the Voice of Lebanon radio station on Saturday.
“I am surprised that the issue of the four Iranian diplomats was raised by some Lebanese parties rather than those explicitly concerned with the issue,” he said, in reference to Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah’s recent demand for the Lebanese Forces to disclose any information they have on the fate for four Iranian diplomats who were kidnapped in Beirut in 1982.
In response to Nasrallah’s demand, Adwan called on the security services and the Directorate of the Intelligence Services to reveal the results of their investigations into the fate of the missing Iranian diplomats.
“If it turns out that we were connected to the kidnapping, we are ready to implement anything that is decided,” he said.
“This issue and the Israeli advertisement found on the Lebanese Forces website, which it turned out the LF had nothing to do with, proves the attempt to target the LF because it constitutes a major party in the Cedar Revolution,” he said.
Adwan said the proposals for the 2009 draft budget were “not convincing” and urged the cabinet to discuss the issue methodically.
“I advise Prime Minister Fouad Siniora not to accept any settlement, because the cabinet’s experience proved that this policy has failed. We cannot go on without clear plans,” he said.
He also called on judicial authorities to look into the speech of an unnamed Change and Reform bloc MP who accused the Lebanese Forces of wiretapping and interfering in telephone calls.
“The LF made a decision to announce my candidacy in the Chouf and I affirm that there will be lists of the March 14 alliance in the Chouf and the Mountain,” he said, adding that there would be complete coordination between the LF, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt and National Liberal Party Leader Dori Chamoun.
“Our statistics show that the LF has the majority of the Christian community in the Chouf and the Mountain,” he added.
“My electoral project will include a solution for the issue of the displaced persons in order to close this file once and for all. I had previously proposed it to Siniora, who welcomed the file, but some parties attempted to obstruct it. Then we could not reconsider its study because a new Minister of the Displaced [Raymond Audi] took charge,” he said.