Aoun Hopes Obama 'Won't Act Like Bush', Says Miqati Named Directors General as 'His Spies'

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday hoped U.S. President Barack Obama will not act on Syria as his predecessor George W. Bush acted on Iraq, accusing caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati of appointing directors general as “his spies” in state institutions.

“I had suggested in 2005 to form a parliamentary committee on security, but they have been delaying it because there is a political will against its creation. It should be a regular committee like the rest of committees and MPs must demand a proper performance from the security agencies, or else it should not be formed and let them bear the responsibility,” Aoun said after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform bloc in Rabiyeh.

“Let the draft law be defeated in the Administration and Justice Committee, but I have performed my duties before God and society,” he added.

Aoun accused Miqati of issuing a decree “in which he says bizarre things about the jurisdiction of the caretaker cabinet,” noting that the caretaker premier “has named directors general as his spies.”

“This case did not happen in any cabinet in the world. This is a constitutional and legal heresy that is against all the norms of proper governance,” he said.

Turning to the issue of oil exploration, Aoun said: “All of us know that the deadline for the issuance of the oil decree had ended yesterday.”

“Failure to issue the decree indicates that they don't want to extract the oil. The issue represents a loss for Christians because they don't want us to succeed in any ministry, as all the former ministers did not achieve anything in the fields of oil, energy or water,” Aoun added.

On the Syrian crisis, the FPM leader said: “We are with the Syrian people and with those who preserve their safety, not with those who sent them al-Nusra Front.”

Commenting on a possible U.S.-led strike on Syria, accused of attacking areas near Damascus with chemical weapons, Aoun said: “On September 9, the U.S. Congress will take a decision on Syria and on September 11 the attacks on New York will be commemorated, and we hope Obama will not act like Bush.”

Asked about the cabinet formation process, Aoun said: “We are ruled by 'occupied minds' and if things were subject to a specific course, I would have said when the cabinet will be formed, but every other day, there is a new reason for the delay.”