Chief Editor of the Lebanese daily Ad-Diyar, Charles Ayoub, said he has received direct threats attempting to coerce him into withdrawing his candidacy for one of the Maronite seats in the Kesrouan district, where he is in direct competition with Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun.
Ayoub stressed, in an interview with the March 14 official news website on Saturday that he would continue his electoral battle, “regardless of the difficulties and dangers.”
“I refuse the military dictatorship, which Aoun has been practicing since he returned [from Paris] four years ago. The public should not believe that he [Aoun] is their savior and I must attract the voters who are opposing him,” he said.
Ayoub added that he hoped Aoun would “lift the secrecy surrounding his bank accounts, and maybe then he will stop talking about political corruption.”
Ayoub said that he is still a friend and an ally of the Syrians, despite the vehement attacks made against him recently by some Syrian newspapers and websites. He added that these attacks “do not reflect the real opinion of Syrian officials.”
With regard to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, he said that he would never be cynical about its integrity.