Free patriotic Movement ( FPM) MP Simon Abi Ramia responded on Monday to a report published in Al- Jumhuriya newspaper quoting a WikiLeaks cable in which the MP speaks against Hezbollah.
Abi Ramia asked officials in the US Embassy in France to consider that FPM leader MP Michel Aoun is the US ally in its struggle against Hezbollah, Al- Jumhuriya report said, adding that the MP voiced the importance of ending Hezbollah’s ideology and not just disarming the party. A possible reference to the Iranian Wilayat al Faqih type government that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has praised on several occasions
“What I was quoted as saying is true, but only half of what I said was published,” Abi Ramia told Future TV
Abi Ramia said that he told the US officials that no one in Lebanon wants a party to have illegitimate arms after all Lebanese territories are liberated, adding that he also said that the FPM will be against Hezbollah if it refuses to establish a national-defense strategy after the liberation of all Lebanese lands.
He added that there was a political dispute with Hezbollah when the meeting in the US Embassy in Paris took place, adding that his statements were made before the FPM signed a memorandum of understanding with Hezbollah.
“I am proud of what I said, but my statements should have been [quoted properly].”
Abi Ramia was also quoted by National News Agency (NNA) as saying that he told the US official at the time that “all US and Israeli military plans to destroy Hezbollah will not yield results because the party has popular support and can arm tens of thousands of people within a week.”
“I also said that I know a lot of Lebanese people and Muslim Shiites who live in the West, are married to European women and who are proud of what Hezbollah does in what concerns defending the dignity and sovereignty of Lebanon.”
The MP voiced the importance of “ending Hezbollah’s ideology and not just disarming the party,” WikiLeaks added.
Aoun who was defeated by the Syrians went into exile to France in October 1989. He returned to Lebanon on May 7, 2005, eleven days after the withdrawal of Syrian troops. In 2006, he signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hezbollah. He visited Syria in 2009 for the first time after returning from exile but has since visited it many times
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