French Official: Lebanon Must Not Become a Zone for Score-Settling
France is betting on two scenarios – domestic and regional – that will determine the course of stability in Lebanon following the June 7 polls, a French source told al-Hayat daily in comments published Sunday.
"Domestically, Paris regards the role played by President Michel Suleiman as significant and essential," said the source, who is an expert on Lebanese and regional affairs.
"On the regional level, there is a need to neutralize Lebanon against turning into a proxy war arena for others and to settle regional conflicts between Syria and Israel or Iran and Israel or Saudi Arabia and Syria," he added.
Overall, he said, "the victory of either the majority or the minority will have its repercussions on the (main) players in the region and on the international level."
"Israel will use a March 8 victory as a pretext to consider Lebanon as a “Hizbullah state while Iran and Syria will consider the success as their own and place Lebanon once more in the strategic Syria-Iranian axis,”" he said.
On the international level, "Europe and the United States will join hands with influential Arab countries, especially Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to play a major role in protecting Lebanon from becoming an arena for settling scores in the region."
However, in case of a March 14 victory, "the international efforts must be twinned with domestic Lebanese efforts through national dialogue and the neutralization of Hizbullah”s disarmament, which cannot be done by force with or without a Hizbullah majority in parliament," the source said.
The source said the results of the elections must not "impede" the state of political stability that has prevailed in Lebanon for the past year.
Lebanon can maintain its stability after the elections "without necessarily continuing to abide by the Doha agreement as is," he said.
"It is up to the Lebanese to decide on the appropriate course of action," he concluded.