Israeli military maneuvers don’t alter Israel’s danger to Lebanon
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said that the Israeli military maneuver did not endanger Lebanon, a reference to the document presented by Head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammad Raad during Tuesday’s sixth national dialogue session. Geagea said that “the Israeli danger” remained unchanged and Raad’s stunt intended to “deviate attention to somewhere else” during the session.
After meeting with Deputy Speaker Farid Makari in Maarab on Wednesday, Geagea called for keeping the issue of the Israeli maneuver separate from domestic priorities, such as the national defense strategy.
Geagea also said that his party has no problems with March 14 alliance or the Future Movement, adding that the LF would hold meetings with Armenian parties to resolve the “unexpected problem,” in reference to LF’s nomination of the Armenian candidate Richard Kouyoumjian in the Beirut I district, while Future Movement MP Serge Torsarkissian was running for the same seat.
Geagea commented on the upcoming parliamentary elections in the Kesrouan district and said that “more discussions was needed to reach the best solution.” He explained that he could understand Hezbollah using its power in the Baalbek-Hermel district or in Nabatiyeh, but added that it was unacceptable for it to isolate former MP Fares Soueid in Jbeil.
“We are trying to ally with independent candidates who share with us basic political principles,” he said.
Geagea commented on the release of the four generals held in connection to the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri by the Special Tribunal, saying he had no personal attachment to the issue, “especially after what happened to me personally,” a reference to his imprisonment following the civil war, “and with the LF.” “We know exactly the meaning of justice and law,” he said sarcastically.
Geagea added that he “believed” in the Special Tribunal’s decision, regardless of the results, and said that he would congratulate some of the released generals, “because the others have violated the Lebanese system.” He noted that their violations were unrelated to the Special Tribunal.
Geagea also said the release of the four generals scored a point for the majority and not the opposition, emphasizing that “nobody in the majority had ever called for keeping the generals detained.” He said that the opposition should be overly enthused with the decision to release the generals, because “it has been marketing for years that the tribunal was politicized.”