LF says no convergence with FPM unless it stops supporting Hezbollah

The Lebanese Forces said Monday in a statement that it cannot converge with the Free Patriotic Movement, unless the latter stops supporting Hezbollah.

"There is a communication with the FPM and this communication has resulted in an intersection presidential candidate," the statement said, adding that communication must be maintained but reaching convergence "requires national understandings starting from a sovereign vision, which is not currently available."

FPM chief Jebran Bassil had called on Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi to bring the Christian leaders together, during an annual conference Sunday.

"Bassil reiterates in every occasion that he stands behind what he calls the resistance that protects Lebanon. This constitutes a fundamental point of disagreement," the statement said.

"Unless Bassil announces that Hezbollah must lay down its weapons, we do not see any reason for convergence," the Lebanese Forces charged, adding that what the Lebanese people want is the rise of a "real state", which Hezbollah is preventing.