Geagea Ready to Meet with Anyone, Anytime; Says Name Not Proposed for New Cabinet
Lebanese Forces leader told the pan-Arab al-Hayat daily in comments to be published Friday that he was prepared to hold meetings with any of his Christian political opponents.
In excerpts of the interview made available by the NNA Thursday, Geagea said of inter-Christian reconciliations: "The LF is not in discord with anyone. I am ready to hold talks, at any time, with anyone who wants to meet."
He said separate encounters between premier-designate Saad Hariri and MP Walid Jumblat with Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah "took place on behalf of us all."
On the government, Geagea said his name was not being suggested as a minister in the next cabinet. "Efforts are currently focused on the government”s formation. We have not yet reached the stage of proposing names."
However, he rejected as "unreasonable" the nomination of ministers who lost as parliamentary candidates in the June elections.
He said he supported the 16-10-4 formula for the next government but added that March 8 still insisted on 11 ministers.
On Hizbullah, Geagea said he supported a possible option to make the Shiite party”s weapons arsenal a "negotiating card with Israel to serve Lebanon and the Palestinian cause on the condition that the Lebanese state holds the authority in the matter."
Commenting on recent events in the south, the LF leader advised against giving Israel "a pretext to escape international pressures, especially in light of the serious U.S. approach to the Middle East file."
Geagea said the Lebanese openness to better ties with Syria "must not come at Lebanon”s expense." He called on Syria to resolve two sticking points between the two countries: "the issue of Lebanese detainees in Syrian prisons and Palestinian military sites outside the refugee camps."
"What purpose does the (military) camp in Naimah, for example, serve? Is it battling Israel or jamming the Beirut airport?" he asked.