The Lebanese Forces (LF) called on Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem to submit his information ( if any ) to the judiciary, according to a statement issued by the LF on Friday.
Qassem said on Thursday that he has information on the LF armament.
If such false accusations reoccur, the party will have to resort to the judiciary, the statement added.
Speaking to reporters in Maarab after his meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly , Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday lamented that “a prominent dignitary such as Sheikh Qassem proclaimed totally false and baseless information suggesting that the LF was stockpiling weapons.”
Geagea asked Qassem to “submit his information, if there is any, to the relevant judicial authorities.”
Asked about the possibility of “confronting a new May 7,” Geagea said: “The State is the side to confront (such a possibility) and not us, because it (the state) is responsible for civil peace and the security of citizens, and this question shouldn’t be addressed to us, because the parties concerned are the ministries of interior and defense.”
this was in reference to the May 7 , 2008 event when gunmen of a Hezbollah-led alliance occupied the Sunni part of Beirut and tried but failed to occupy the Druze stronghold of Mt Lebanon . More Hezbollah gunmen were reportedly killed during the event than in the 2006 war with Israel.
STL
Geagea also slammed Qassem over the latter’s remarks that the article on funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon will not be passed in Cabinet, stressing that “the STL was established under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1757 and the successive governments, including the current one, have been committed to Security Council’s resolutions, including the aforementioned.”
The LF leader ruled out that the government might soon be toppled by Hezbollah and its allies, noting that the other camp ( March 8) was “incapable” of taking such a step.
Geagea said that “there is no proof” that the STL was targeting Hezbollah, calling on the Lebanese people and politicians to read the biographies of STL’s key officials – its president Antonio Cassesse, Prosecutor Danielle Bellemare, Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen and others.
Asked about the possibility of sectarian violence in Lebanon should the STL accuse members of Hezbollah of murdering former PM Rafik Hariri, Geagea said: “Why? I don’t understand the link between the two things.”
Syria
Geagea wondered if Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem was “revealing what ‘would’ happen or what he ‘wants’ to happen” when he warned of sectarian violence in Lebanon over STL’s anticipated indictment.
On Saturday Phalange party MP and former minister Elie Marouni told Free Lebanon radio that “Syria is waiting for sedition in Lebanon to re-occupy the country.”
“ Syria still has the intention of returning to Lebanon,” Marouni stressed
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.