Geagea: No justification for Hezbollah’s military presence in Beirut

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During an interview with CNN Arabic news , Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said that last week’s Borj Abi Haidar clashes harmed Hezbollah’s image, adding that the violence revealed that the party has a military presence in the capital that cannot be justified or accepted, according to a statement issued Wednesday by Geagea’s office.

“ Hezbollah should intervene domestically through politics and not through military force ,” Geagea said, reiterating his call to make Beirut an arms-free city.

His statement comes after a bloody street battle that shook the Borj Abi Haidar neighborhood in the Lebanese capital on August 24, pitting supporters of the Iranian backed Hezbollah against the pro-Syrian Al-Ahbash militants —also known as the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects. 3 people were killed in the clash including a Hezbollah senior official.

Geagea said that he wants Hezbollah to retain its power, but added that he favors organizing the Resistance’s strength and granting it a legitimate political cover.

“Hezbollah cannot confiscate the decision of defending Lebanon at a time when the party is not a legitimate authority and when there is no unanimous agreement between the Lebanese on granting such tasks to Hezbollah ,” the LF leader said

However, Geagea said that the transitional plan he proposed August 19 to the national dialogue committee would allow Hezbollah to operate under legitimate political cover.

The LF leader’s plan calls for the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to reinforce its deployment in the South and for Hezbollah units be placed under the Lebanese army’s command.

He added that his plan abides by UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and only allows for a Hezbollah military presence north of the Litani River under the command of the LAF.

“Unfortunately, President Michel Suleiman did not seriously consider my transitional plan ,” Geagea said ad added: ” This is the first time a proposal that includes all point of views is made.”

Only Berri

“Speaker Nabih Berri is the only official who expressed interest in my transitional plan because he is open to all suggestions and possibilities at all times,” Geagea told CNN in the interview.

The LF leader hoped Berri would convince Hezbollah about the seriousness of his suggestion, which according to Geagea has no alternative.

STL

Asked about the indictment that will be filed by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon ( STL) over the assassination of Lebanon’s former PM Rafik Hariri, the LF leader said: “The decision can’t be anticipated.”

“There is no excuse for the current political bickering over the indictment. All what is being said are rumors,” Geagea added.

STL prosecutor Daniel Bellemare reacted to the recent rumors the same way during an interview on Sept 1 : People should remember this: “Unless they can read into my brain, everything else is just speculation”.

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25 responses to “Geagea: No justification for Hezbollah’s military presence in Beirut”

  1. Samir is spot on! Hezbollah, Ahbash, and others should all leave Beirut’s security to the LAF and ISF. Enough is ENOUGH!!!

    Israel entered Beirut ONCE and lived to regret it. Heroes with knives kicked them out. NO FORCE ON EARTH can tame this city and israelis are not gonna repeat the same mistake twice neither does the Syrian regime as they tasted the wrath of Ashrafieh and tucked their tails and ran.

    NOBODY can tame Beirut!!! Weapons are not needed and if HA insists on entering the city then this is considered a coup against the sovereignty of Lebanon.

    Lastly, it is the duty of every Lebanese to defend Lebanon and what makes HA the only legitimate defender baffles me. Who made you our protectors REALLY? Our people proved that they can defend themselves over the centuries and against ALL odds survived one brutal invader after another and you are NO different.

    We ALL thank you and acknowledge your martyred heroes in kicking the Israelis out of Lebanon. I would have done the same if ANY ANY ANY force would enter the North where my ancestors rest, and you defended your homes valiantly and we all thank you for that.

    But NOW? ndaebbo. 😀

    1. Leborigine Avatar

      Well presented!!

    2. HA is a militia, their first allegiance is for Iran. Their power stem from their military branch. They have a negociating card, which give them a veto on politics that goes against their interest ( Iran ). They will never give up their arms unless they have no other choice.

      So Geagea is the only politician that I know who stand againts these syrian-iranian spy…

      God bless you Geagea for trying to save our nation.

      1. Walid I agree with you and I dont think the way HA is handling some issues is correct…but at the same time, you ask what makes them our sole protector, I think they have been proven why, at this time, they are the only ones capable of withstanding the israeli army.

        Marc, I am so sick of hearing you complain about this iranian allegiance. Listen, they are first and foremost lebanese and in case you havent been reading up on the news, about the israeli spy ring, zionist goals and interests, please do some research.

        if you did, you would at least acknowledge that we do need HA in some way with their weapons…more controlled by the state? sure but you cannot, if you love lebanon as much as you claim, think for one second that completley disarming them would not result in a catastrophe for lebanon and would give Israel and the US exactly what they want and have lebanon exactly where they want it to be.

        did you read the latest complaint filed by the lebanese govt about these spies and their involvement in assassination and forging documents?

        I honestly think you live in lala land.

      2. Dear Cathy,

        I disagree with you entirely, hez doesnt put lebanon first… They will never comply with the idea of serving one unity nation. If you put your faith in ha to defend our territory you live in a fantasy island… These guys want to provoke war they are not seeking peace.

        Because if peace is achieve they will vanish…and their ideoly will vanish.

        I wonder if your are for Iran or Lebanon…In this matter… You will never convince me otherwise… IF their was an once of good faith in them they would have at least consider the Geagea proposal…

        Cheers!!

      3. Marc with all due respect, if they wanted war they would have provoked one VERY VERY EASILY with that stupid tree incident.

        YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT.

        It is israel who doesnt want peace, or no, it does want peace, but on its own terms, meaning keep your half a million pali refugees and push some more into lebanon.

        you are the blind one my friend.

  2. Constantin Avatar

    Did I read that “HA is the only one capable of withstanding the Israeli army”? Is this a joke or what? Let’s not forget that HA is NOT an ARMY, they are gorillas that cannot function other than in clandestin mode (i.e. Hit and Hide). They cannot fight face to face with honor like our army or any other army in the world. HA can withstand the Israeli in this clandestin fashion only if Israel is occupying Lebanese land. In the present situation, Israel does not occupy any Lebanese land (technically as per the UN, some may argue about shebaa farms and other) so HA’s arsenal and arms are useless, unless they are used internally to intimidate other parties and the government.

    If we look backward the last few years, these arms did not deter Israel, they were used only internally for terrorist actions, stopping the economy, and intimidating other political parties.

    Finally, if HA wants to defend Lebanon it has to have the backing of the Lebanese people, it does not have this backing at all. Only a majority of shiaa back HA, the rest of the people do not want HA to defend Lebanon and did not give HA this right. This right of defending Lebanon is imposed by HA by force on the rest of the country.

    For this I agree completely with Mr. Geagea on this issue and not only in Beirut but in all Lebanon there should not be any arms other than with the army and ISF.

    HA’s arms are a huge liability on the government and the internal security and NOT an Asset at all.

    1. Ok constantin, first, you say in the last few years, their weapons were used to terrorize opponents.

      the only incident I know of (maybe i am not aware of others) is the may 2008.

      they may have not reacted the way they should BUT there had a good reason of going against the govt trying to dismantle their network b/c oddly enough, everything else was infiltrated by spies and they were proven right.

      Second, you say, their arms are useless since Israel does not occupy lebanon at this time.

      Ok fine, what happens if they are completley disarmed, and the army is the sole defender of our country, which is the way it should be, when you have neighbours other than Israel.

      what if Israel decides, ok you know what, we are gonna go back into the south and see if how long we can stay in there and eventually push some palestinians refugees in, or better yet, make it so miserable for palis in the occupied territories that they will wanna flee into lebanon, and we will make it possible.

      you’re gonna tell me that our army, with all my respect and love for them, will be able to stand in their way? with all their sophisticated weapons and combatt planes?

      you say HA defeated israel because they act like guerillas. EXACTLY!!!

      that is the whole point.

      I have said in another post about how the american army, in iraq, had to change its strategy because it was unable to defeat the small militia style group in there, so they had to fight the same way those did. and that is the AMERICAN ARMY one of the most pwerful in the world.

      I have heard time and time and time again from zionists on political debate shows, the IDF can make lebanon and its army disappear in an instant because the army is too apparent and does not have the same hide and hit tactics as HA which is much harder to beat, and they think TWICE before going in a war with them.

    2. CHRISTIAN Avatar

      constantin well said brother! 😉

  3. remember Cathy in Iraq like in Lebanon it is not a war it is like you say hit and run and that is how the American got their indpence from Britain,

    But the british were occupying America like America was in Iraq.

    But Israel is not occupying Lebanon and they don’t have to move on the ground theu can do it from the air. That was the mistake American did in Iraq and in Afghanistan, they went on the ground.

    1. Elie, didnt the israelis also carry out their assaults by air in 2006?

      they still werent able to destroy them.

  4. Constantin Avatar

    Cathy,

    I am not going to play ping pong messages back and forth, I work and cannot waste too much time here, your arguments are hypothetical and just excuses to keep HA arms. Your reasons could very well apply to Syria too. Why don’t the Syrians have an armed resistance? Don’t they want to defend their country in case any of your hypothetical scenarios come true in Syria ?

    Basically, if Israel wanted to push the Palestianians in Lebanon they could have done it decades ago where nobody could or would have stopped them in the south. Now it is too late for this scenario, in the contrary the negotiations now are focusing on the right of return (among other things).

    One thing is for sure is that the VAST MAJORITY OF THE LEBANESE DID NOT GIVE HA THE RIGHT TO DEFEND LEBANON OR THE LEBANESE. HA IMPOSES ITSELF AND ITS ARMS ON THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE, and this is completely inacceptable.

    1. Constantin, your comparison of lebanon with syria is laughable.

      Israel does no go into syrian airspace day in day out and Israel never technically occupied Syria, except for the golan heights.

      anyway, you are convinced and nothing I say will change that.

      very informative article for all “convinced” people:

      http://thedawn.com.pk/2010/04/02/when-will-israel-invade-lebanon-and-syria/

      1. read the WHOLE article but in case you dont, here is an interest part:

        Does the war have the potential to become regional?

        Only if Israel decides to make it so. While the Netanyahu government talks about Hezbollah being little more than a cat’s paw for Iran and Syria, the group has deep roots in the country’s long-repressed Shiite majority. It does receive arms from both Damascus and Iran, and Teheran also gives the group about $200 million a year in aid. That is, however, a tiny portion of Hezbollah’s annual budget.

        Lebanon’s Shiites are also quite different than their Iranian counterparts. While Iran’s mullahs dominate civil and economic matters, Lebanon’s Shiites are suspicious of direct involvement in government, because they believe that it will ultimately corrupt Islam. A number of Iraq’s Shiites, including Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, come from a similar current in the Shiite sect.

        Hezbollah is quite aware of the damage that Israel can inflict, and, is consequently unlikely to do anything provocative. As Azmi Bishara, a Palestinian and former Israeli Knesset members writes in Al-Ahram, “Hezbollah has made it clear it intends to avoid giving Israel any excuse to go to war.”

      2. and one last thing to you constantine, you talk about refugees going back as part of negotiations? LOL

        that was one of the 3 conditions that Israel imposed and said it would refuse in peace talks:

        the right of return for palestinian refugees.

        I tell you, you people live in lala land.

      3. moustapha Avatar

        I think cathy his point about syria is how come Israel hasn’t destroyed all of the Syrian military and taken over more of Syria? since it is so easy for them to do so. Why hasn’t Syria used the hizzy tactics to regain the Golan heights? How come hizzy doesn’t act from within Syria also strategically attacking from the north and east of Izzy.

        The point that needs to be made is if the tit for tat tactic is the one that only works, then why don’t they fuse with the army/train our national heroes with their experience to screw with the izzy if they think they can waltz in whenever they want. Basically begin the proposal geagea submitted.

        Yes there needs to be a force like the one of the hizzy in lebanon to deter il 7ayawanat il israeliyeh. Bess mish ma3nat il shiaa bess ib yi7malo il sla7 ou bihadidoo israel ou iy hadidoona la 7atay dalon the ones in power. This something unacceptable and you can’t convince me that the hizzy haven’t been acting like that towards all the Lebanese who are blindly following them.

        Instead they have personal fights on the streets of Beirut and it turns out to be one that its only solutions is RPG’s and sub-machine guns and complete destruction of a neighborhood with casualties.

        Shou hal akil il khara. And to top it off… Mish 3ajiboun ino the politicians are saying there should be no armed gangs in Beirut and free Beirut of any arms. 2’al shouuuuu…you are attacking the Resistance. Screw the resistance ile jabitkon. hayda mish resistance, hayda zi3ran exploiting the good of some of the sincere people who forced the Zionist trash out of the South.

        They have gotten greedy, hot headed, and very very far from the mentality of unity and closer to the mentality of dominance.

        Every time they obviously are at fault they make crazy allegations and label people as spies, and isreali sympathizers, and threaten another may event. I am sick and tired of their lying and nifak.. 3aynak bint 3aynak. And the worst PART is they fought with people on their own team..

        Brotherly fight. A new phenomenon compliments of your friendly neighborhood Hizzy.

        cathy, i noticed you bring alot of articles. I dont see the relevance of pakistani scholars commenting on middle east issues. Kilo speculation and it is to be taken in for consideration bess also what is happening on the ground has to be analyzed and factored in with what others are saying.

        Peace

      4. habibi ya moustapha, the reporter is not paki, the website that posted is but you can find his articles all over many different american and european sites. He has visited the middle east and is an independant journalist. but fine, you wanna say its speculation, ok. bass what you read in an-nahar or even here is not speculation?

        its called free press and the more you read and inform yourself from ALL sides, the more you are able to form an objective opinion. ba3den when I refer to Hareetz, I think it is very relevant to the points I am trying to make.

        on the other hand, I am completley d’accord ma3ak about the way some incidents have been handled and have criticized them for it.

        Bass if you read the latest article posted here on yalibnan, it claims hezbollah was taken by surprise by this attack by ahbash and wasnt expecting it and did not really initiate it.

        so before pointing fingers, lets try to sit back and wait for facts.

        ba3den please dont call me a blind follower, i am anything but that.

      5. moustapha Avatar

        Im flattered cathy to be habibik.. much brotherly and sisterly love to you to =)

        With regards to the hizzy fight,On the other hand another article on this website said that the Ahbash were saying they were attacked first and have proof by video.

        With regards to you citing Haaretzz. I honestly don’t trust what the conniving Isreali media says.. their propaganda and media is all lies and they are known to be the best at steering people with their lies. Thats why, when i read something from their news papers i don’t take them for their word. Bess i agree with you it is important to read and thus i do the exact same thing as you do.

        I don’t mean to belittle anyones opinion and thats why i said you have to combine these articles you are putting forth with other articles for example like you stated al-naher, al-manar (local domestic news from Lebanon)or what have you to make the connections between the dots.

        I don’t see where i had called you a blind follower. I referred to blind followers in terms of the hizzy treating everyone in Lebanon differently then from its blind followers. Don’t see how that was taken as you are one of them, bess i apologize if it seemed i was offending you in that way and i didn’t mean it as such.

        With regards to facts… what facts do we need to wait for.

        Hizzy and Ahbash are both Syria proxies. They both are on the same team and are militarily/financially supported by means of Syria. So the fact is that not every time there is a dispute they need to spread violence. that is the facts and they are the only ones holding arms and swinging it around en kein hizzy or any armed organization.

        im glad cathy you are d’accord ma3i with some incidents.. ana i see these some incidents as too many to reoccur and need them to stop.

        Again forgive me if i offended you. My humble apologies.

        Peace

  5. POOR CATHY, You are batteling by yourself today. I’ll be here later to give you a hand. Been busy at work.but I did thumb you up.lol

  6. Let us all remember that MIGHT IS RIGHT.

    Much to my chagrin Israel has the might and can dictate more than the rest of us can.

    So what do we do?

  7. Tony Smith Avatar

    Cathy

    What have you been smoking lately?

    1. some good shisha Tony, not weed like you guys have b/c we can see it has been affecting your brain cells.

  8. Exactly my point , Elie. But now Israel understands that its might isn’t enough to make things right for itself anymore. The other side has shown some might that Israel is taking into consideration. With little more might, Lebanon might achieve whatever the other Arab countries didn’t achieve in their struggle with Israel which is deterrence with some honor.

    Might isn’t something people give you, it’s something you work hard to achieve.

  9. MUSTAPHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA,MY FELLOW SOUTHERNER BROTHER , HOW ARE YOU?LOL

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