Recent Speeches Contradict Doha Agreement; Israel Is the Real Enemy
Prime Minister Fouad Saniora said Sunday that recent political speeches "contradicted" an agreement among the Lebanese politicians to shun provocations for political gains.
Saniora, who was meeting with Saida”s families along with Minister Bahia Hariri, also said that Israel remains Lebanon”s "real enemy" adding that the country will not be "dragged" into disunity.
"(Speeches) we have heard over the past days are a combination of political and domestic dimensions in addition to electoral and regional considerations," he said.
"They also (show) a desire to turn Lebanon into an arena for settling scores. Such statements are objectionable to say the least.
"They also contradict what the Lebanese agreed on, especially on Doha, where they committed to shunning violence, the language of arms, the use of weapons, force or threats for political gains," he added.
On Israel, Saniora warned that the Jewish state wants to "divide" the Lebanese and insisted that Lebanon not fall prey to such plans.
"We know that the real enemy is Israel and we will not be a tool in anyone”s hands," he said.
"The Lebanese will not seek violence. This will remain our only obsession on which we will build the Lebanese state – the state of the Taef. And it will not be a third republic."
Saniora also expressed support for the Lebanese forces and the army as they continue to crackdown on Israeli espionage networks.
Since April, at least 13 people were arrested in suspicion of spying for Israel. They include a former general in the security service, his wife and a nephew, who officials say have confessed to working as Israeli agents for the past 15 years.
The Security and military establishments were targets of "intimidation and attempts to hamper their work," Saniora said.
"The army, the intelligence and data-gathering units in the internal security forces were also denied access to the database that could enable us to uncover terrorist cells or spying cells," he added.
"Trough our support, the espionage investigation was able to continue and uncover several sleeping cells, thus challenging accusations these apparatuses were collaborators for Israel."
The prime minister also said that "any person – whoever he may be – was proven to be a spy is a traitor and must be punished."