Aoun guarantees that Hezbollah won’t point its guns against the Lebanese people

President Michel Aoun  tried  again today  to justify the presence of Hezbollah arms in Lebanon , stressing that the Lebanese army is not strong enough to defends Lebanon

Aoun, a key all of the Iranian backed militant group  also issued a personal guarantee  that Hezbollah   will not point its guns against the Lebanese people.

“As long as there is Israeli-occupied land and as long as the army is not strong enough to fight Israel, we sense that there is a need for the presence of the resistance’s arms so that they complement   the army’s weapons,” Aoun said in an interview on the Egyptian TV channel CBC.

“Hezbollah are the residents of the South and are among the Lebanese citizens whose land was occupied and part of the land is still occupied,” the president noted, emphasizing that “certainly Hezbollah’s arms do not contradict with the State and are an essential component of the means to defend Lebanon.”

Aoun added: “We have a land occupied by Israel and when Israel usurps certain territory, it would be difficult to recapture it. This is how we must view Hezbollah’s weapons.”

“It is more than guaranteed that Hezbollah will not turn its arms inwards,” the president stressed.

Hezbollah  arms are a huge liability for Lebanon

But Aoun’s guarantee  according to analysts does not carry a lot of weight in  Lebanon  because he  has been allied with Hezbollah for 11 years  and has been defending the party ever since.

Hezbollah, which was credited with liberating Lebanese territories from Israel in 2000 was a very popular organization in Lebanon and throughout the Arab world. But according to analysts ever since the Lebanese territories were liberated Hezbollah has become a huge liability for Lebanon.

In 2005 former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri was assassinated and 5 Hezbollah members were accused of being behind his murder and are being tried by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in absentia because Hezbollah refused to hand them over to the court.

In 2006 Hezbollah kidnapped 3 Israeli soldiers which triggered a war with Israel that devastated Lebanon. Soon after the war ended Hezbollah tried to use its arms internally to bring down the government of former PM Fouad Siniora.

In 2008 Hezbollah pointed its guns against the Lebanese people when it occupied more than half of Beirut and tried but failed to occupy Mt Lebanon .

In 2011 it brought down the government of former PM Saad Hariri and reportedly used its arms to force progressive socialist party leader MP Walid Jumblatt and his parliamentary bloc to vote for their candidate Nagib Mikati as the new premier .

Hezbollah’s current support for the Syrian regime in its brutal crackdown against the pro democracy uprising is another main concern for the Lebanese people, analysts say.

Hezbollah and its backer Iran were  blamed for the   29 month of presidential vacuum in Lebanon.

For the above reasons analysts consider Hezbollah the number one liability for Lebanon