During a televised news conference at his Maarab residence , Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Friday that engaging in National Dialogue with Hezbollah to resolve the issue of its arms would be a waste of time since the resistance group has never implemented any of the decisions agreed in previous dialogue sessions.
Geagea also slammed Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s threats against Israel, saying that the Lebanese had not authorized his group to set the country’s foreign policy.
“Hezbollah is not willing to discuss its arms. Therefore, on what grounds should we participate in more Dialogue sessions?”Geagea asked .
“We support Dialogue in principle but not one that has produced nothing but lies and cheating,” he added.
“One of decisions arrived during previous National Dialogue sessions was the formation of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which was established in 2007 to try those behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri but Hezbollah lawmakers withdrew from the government when the decision was referred to Parliament,” Geagea said.
“The 2008 Doha Accord, which ended street clashes in Beirut between supporters of Future Movement and Hezbollah, stipulated the formation of a national unity government and banned any attempts to obstruct it, but in 2011 the Hezbollah led March 8 ministers resigned and forced the collapse of the government of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s,” Geagea added.
President Michel Suleiman resumed all-party talks in July to discuss a national defense strategy to benefit from Hezbollah’s arsenal, but Hezbollah insists that its weapons are a red line and should remain under its authority while the March 14 say all arms should be under the jurisdiction of the state.
Geagea, whose party boycotted the resumption of Dialogue altogether earlier this year, said the talks were held even as several political figures were being assassinated.
The LF leader said he longer has any trust in Hezbollah in order to resume the national dialogue talks.
“We no longer have trust in them to engage in talks,” he said.
Geagea also criticized Hezbollah’s recent attempts to draw Israel into a fight. He addressed Nasrallah by saying:
“You are not authorized to take such stances. The president and the government have such authority from the Lebanese people but you don’t.”
In his televised speech last week, Nasrallah said that Hezbollah’s missiles would rain down on Tel Aviv and other cities if the Jewish state attacked Lebanon.
“If Israel couldn’t handle a handful of Fajr-5 rockets during the eight days ( war in Gaza with Hamas) – how would it cope with thousands of rockets which would fall on Tel Aviv and other cities ?” Nasrallah was quoted as saying and which analysts interpreted as a provocation by Hezbollah to draw Israel into a war similar to what it did in 2006.
DS/ agencies
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