During an interview with As-Sharq radio, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea commented on the recent press conferences by Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad and Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and branded them as “steps in the right direction, contrary to what some think.”
He said: “We live in a democratic system and every party and every leader has the right to express their opinion, and we should respect their views the same way they respect ours.”
Geagea said everyone must wait for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) indictment, assess it rationally, and ensure that they preserve civil peace, the law, and constitutional institutions, he added, that he hopes that following up on the indictment would take place in the same manner as the press conferences.
“The March 14 forces have prepared themselves mentally for the indictment, meaning we will be attentive in properly reading the indictment,” Geagea added that the necessary step based on this reading will be taken .”
Geagea also said Prime Minister Saad Hariri and President Michel Sueiman should call the cabinet to meet and “whoever wants to boycott daily life in Lebanon, let him boycott the cabinet session and bear the responsibility of obstruction,” he also said.
On Wednesday, Raad held a conference to talk about his party’s positions on the tribunal investigating the late PM Rafik Hariri’s murder and said that the STL serves foreign agendas and has increased tension and divisions among the Lebanese.
Raad said said the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is a violation of the Lebanese Constitution and accused U.N. investigators of procrastination.
Nasrallah recently said that the telecom evidence reportedly used by the STL is worthless.
The cabinet has not met since its November 10 session in which discussion of the “false witnesses” controversy was postponed to avoid a divisive vote.
Tension escalated in Lebanon following reports that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon will soon issue its indictment into the 2005 assassination of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Last July, the Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that the tribunal is “an Israeli project” that will indict Hezbollah members. Nasrallah accused Israel of being behind Hariri’s assassination but refused to provide the evidence to STL to support his claim. Hezbollah and its March 8 allies have been calling for the abolition of STL.
Some leaders are concerned that should the court indict Hezbollah members, it could lead to a Shiite-Sunni strife.
The Pro Syrian Al Akhbar newspaper reported earlier in the month that Hezbollah has prepared a plan to take over Lebanon when STL issues its indictment for the 2005 murder of the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun , (a close ally of Hezbollah ) said on November 18 that Hezbollah might violently respond to an STL indictment that accuses Hezbollah party’s members in Hariri’s assassination.
Yesterday a leading Israeli Military Intelligence official expressed concerns that Hezbollah might seize control of Lebanese government institutions.
“Dozens will be killed when Hezbollah uses force and takes over government institutions,” senior Military Intelligence official Colonel Yossi Adler told the Knesset in ‘a possible scenario.’
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