Bassil: We Fear Lebanon Will Become Passageway for Jihadists
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil stressed on Sunday that terrorism cannot be justified by religion or any other excuse, warning against the spread of the phenomenon in Lebanon and the rest of the Arab world.
He said: “We fear that Lebanon will become a passageway for jihadists.”
He made his remarks during the opening of the Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo, Egypt.
“The solution lies in properly equipping the army,” he added, while hoping that the upcoming Rome conference aimed at bolstering the army will fulfill this demand.
“Can you believe that in the country of coexistence some individuals have taken the path of suicide bombing as a result of the political and religious environment that harbors such sentiments?” he asked the gatherers.
“Terrorism does not have a creed and combating it requires a firm political and security position,” stated Bassil.
“Combating terrorism in Lebanon requires the proper equipping of the army,” he declared.
Addressing the case of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, he warned that this issue has started to take on an “existential turn in the country.”
On a daily basis, Lebanon takes in 45 percent of refugees fleeing Syria, he noted.
This has taken place while Lebanon's state institutions have not received any foreign aid, lamented the foreign minister.
“We can no longer adopt the 'open door' policy and we demand that the refugees be fairly distributed in safe areas in Syria and in near and far Arab countries,” stressed Bassil.
In addition, he highlighted the importance of Lebanon's right to liberate occupied land and resist any Israeli assault.
Lebanon has been hit by several car bombings in recent months carried out by al-Qaida-affiliated groups that are oppose Hizbullah's fighting in Syria.
The bombings have mainly taken place in Hizbullah strongholds.
The party has been taking part in the fighting alongside the Syrian regime forces against a rebel uprising.
09 March 2014, 14:45
89
peace, give credit where credit is due.. what he said is on the spot in numerous areas. i hate it that a christian is allied to a party like HA, but that is not the topic of conversation. Strengthen the army, stop this influx of syrians that Lebanon can not bear.
this was a huge test for Bassil and i think he passed. Nothing like that garbage mansour. and speaking about Lebanon the state, not petty party interests.
i agree with his statement that the Lebanese should have the right to resist Israel, but it should stop right there.. ALL Lebanese. not this petty foreign serving concoction, HA. The Lebanese should also have the right to resist any transgressions committed by anyone not only Israel. Syria being on level playing field of enmity to Lebanon as Israel.
Nothing wrong to say about what Bassil said, forget about his alliances and judge his words.
09 March 2014, 15:06
88
it should be, and unlike mnasour, he did not take sides, and speaking in general terms. I do believe his next step would be to ask to have no other militias in Lebanon and only the Lebanese army to apply the rules and laws. but what i am speaking of is what he said, nothing wrong. again i believe the FPM would be the biggest party that can bring back Lebanon, but not when it is allied to HA and covers for one militia against the next. Let Aoun return to his words in France, not join M14, but really say things the way they need to be said. and it can rule Lebanon and take it back to its rightful place. pity he changed, Lebanon could have been so much.
give them time, they will, and i believe they are in the process of, find out how unholy their alliance is with HA.
09 March 2014, 15:15
87
Roar, Bassil's words were like a spray of mist in the face compared to Mansour. and regardless if i am against their current position (mainly their alliance with HA, and christian cover for them) does not change the fact that what was said is to lebanons benefit. I hope he continues in these steps and takes further ones that will distance himself from HA, AMAL and other thugs (not to say that he should join M14) but if he can walk that fine line, between what he used to say in France and his fight against corruption and building of the state, there is hope for Lebanon.
09 March 2014, 15:15
74
P.S. i NEVER said i am pro-M14, i am pro-lebanon, and will talk out of conviction and my own firmly held principles. i am anti HA, i do not believe there can be a state with such a party in existence. i am also anti old guard, and that means all our "elected" politicians. i do not believe a single one of them has lebanon's interest at heart. and would love a changing of the guard. If you ask me who i would vote for president, PM, speaker, and 164 times MP it would be baroud.
09 March 2014, 15:16
47
arzak.
"All lebanese. not this petty foreign serving concotion HA" 100%
"Syria being on level playing field of enmity to lebanon as israel" 100%
Nicely said.
09 March 2014, 16:39
23
Roar, take it from me. Unfortunately, when the time does come and the fpm asks HA to disintegrate militarily, you will see the answer will be NO and a campaign launched against Aoun and others of being zionists. Aoun will not be able to disarm HA peacefully. Only Iran can do that. And they are not letting go of their ace because Aoun said so. Then what?
09 March 2014, 16:41
12
LF. Thank you. If only more people in Lebanon saw that we are surrounded by enemies of equal calibre maybe that would unite us. But to most of us it is one or the other. What a shame to lie to yourself like that.
09 March 2014, 17:02
11
and sorry i meant 128 times MP for Baroud.. do not know where i got the 164 from.
10 March 2014, 10:25
52
what basil is saying is full of contradictions:
1- strengthen the army: hezballa his close ally doesn't want a new strong sheriff (lebanese army) in town to uncover their mafia activities.
2- “...we fear that lebanon will become a passageway for jihadists.” this is absolutely true and its because once again his close ally ha along with others are interfering in syria's conflict thus bringing retaliation into Lebanon.
3-“...we can no longer adopt the open door policy..." damn right so shut the f... door in both directions if once again hezballa your close ally will let you do it???!!!
10 March 2014, 10:26
52
4- "...the importance of lebanon's right to liberate occupied land.." : what occupied land??? mazere3 sheb3a was in syrian hands when the israelis occupied it and yet, syria and the un till now refuse to acknowledge sheb3a as lebanese territories. in my dictionary the only occupied territories left are somewhere else between the Palestinian camps and the mrabba3et amnieh run by pro Iranians and pro and anti syrian regime proxies.
5- "...we demand that the refugees be fairly distributed...in near and far arab countries..." yes absolutely right but then again your hezballa ally antagonized the overwhelming majority of arab populations across the board from morocco to the arabian peninsula without forgetting north africa and considering this fact do you expect any favorable outcome to your request from any arab countries?????!!!!!
09 March 2014, 15:25
47
Bassil's speech is interesting.
He wants to cater to the three audiences: M8 and M14 and lebanon lovers.
For M14, he says that Lebanese army should be reinforced, for M8, he talks about jihadists, and about israel (their favorite topic),
and for lebanon lovers, he talks about the plight of lebanese under the refugee load and how much we should get money.
09 March 2014, 15:35
95
Roar 100percent.
What we need now is a supper assertive president who has strong arab contacts that demands our rights. But not specially from the west. It is the arab worlds who should pay up. KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Emirates... These rich sunni countries should be in the first line of help, since lebanon is hosting people from their umma.
09 March 2014, 17:39
44
eagle. Yeah. nice way of looking at it. But iran's budget for lebanon is only to help destabilize lebanon. There is no budget for other "issues"
09 March 2014, 17:55
79
@wolf: Any improvement yet? Still hearing those voices in your head?
09 March 2014, 17:57
78
leb_roar: I am not going to ask you anymore why you broke your promises of never posting on weekends.
09 March 2014, 18:09
78
ice-man, the Queen of the jungle also promised to go away on more then one occasion but as you can see that did not happen. The-snore you are a pompous windbag :-)
09 March 2014, 18:16
76
“Can you believe that in the country of coexistence some individuals have taken the path of suicide bombing as a result of the political and religious environment that harbors such sentiments?”… coming out of the mouth of a block that gives cover to a terrorist militia.
"In addition, he highlighted the importance of Lebanon's right to liberate occupied land and resist any Israeli assault."… same all BS propaganda, go tell your boss Nasrallah to let the LAF control all of the border and to stop to warring on behalf of Assad.
09 March 2014, 18:29
79
Wolfy… most of the other M8 cheerleaders are here to spread the Assad/Iranian propaganda, but you sound like nutcase!
09 March 2014, 18:48
76
Hello Southern, they did not teach us how to read jibber jabber in my school… illiterate stooge :-)
09 March 2014, 19:17
75
"sectarians traitors"… Souther I keep telling you that Hizbullah is not sect and I am not Iranian so speaking against them does not make me a traitor or sectarian. Btw is it true that all of the Assad/Iranian propagandist have a tattoo of Nasrallah on their backside so that they can recognize each other?
09 March 2014, 21:10
65
lebanon has been for a long time a khomeynist jihadist passageway...
09 March 2014, 22:27
69
Wolf; your posts show who yo really are, a person without manners or morals. You are devoid of any decency or humanity. I had the honor of meeting the man you constantly insult and I can tell you know nothing about him, his position in life, his family, or his big heart. It is shameful you are allowed to go on with such despicable language. I cannot begin to imagine the kind of person you are in real life, but judging by your comments on this forum I am sure you are a beast.
