Geagea Fears More Assassinations before 2009 Elections
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said that he expected Lebanon’s 2009 parliamentary elections to be held on time, but added that he feared that “strong candidates” representing the March 14 alliance would be targeted for assassination.
In an interview with the magazine Al-Shiraa, to be published on Friday, Geagea, while stressing that his party was not anti-Syrian and strove to “resolve all outstanding issues” between Lebanon and Syria, also made clear that he held Syrian intelligence services responsible for past assassinations in Lebanon.
Discussing Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun’s impending visit to Syria, Geagea said, “I would have preferred that Aoun not visit Syria before the resolution of all lingering problems between the two countries, notably the fate of missing persons, the demarcation of the border, and the exchange of embassies and the closure of Syrian bases under Palestinian cover.”
Geagea said he doubted that any electoral alliance in Lebanon would win a two-thirds majority of seats in parliament, citing opinion polls that showed Aoun and the rest of the March 8 alliance receiving a third of all votes and the March 14 alliance another third. The final third of votes, which leaned toward the March 14 candidates, would break the tie, Geagea said.
Geagea called Syria the “maestro” that would distribute parliamentary seats for the March 8 alliance.
The LF leader acknowledged the existence of “differences of views” on nominations and the distribution of seats within March 14 ranks, but said there were “genuine efforts” to resolve these differences, and called on “those betting on these differences not to waste their time.”
Geagea described his relationship with Democratic Gathering bloc leader MP Walid Jumblat as “strategic,” and confirmed that their ties today remained “as they were a year ago or two years ago, although there are some points of differentiation.”
His relationship with Future bloc Chief MP Saad Hariri, however, was “excellent,” Geagea said.
“Lebanon is torn between being a final entity or part of the Islamic nation, according to the concepts of the mullahs of Iran,” he concluded.