Gemayel Rejects Hizbullah Threats to Turn Arms Against its Foes
Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel warned Hizbullah on Friday against attempts to target the March 14-led opposition saying its project is doomed to failure.
“Hizbullah should be aware that its project is doomed to failure,” he said at the opening of the 29th Phalange conference. “We stress to Hizbullah that no one in Lebanon wants to target it but we don’t accept that it turns its arms against us.”
He accused the Shiite party of adopting the security logic of Israel to preserve its existence. “What guarantees its presence is the logic of legitimacy, politics, coordination and openness.”
“If Israel is adopting the logic of security against enemies, then Hizbullah is adopting it against the citizens of its nation,” Gemayel told the conference.
He urged Hizbullah to unite with the Lebanese, saying “what guarantees the sustainability of Hizbullah is partnership with the Lebanese and not alliances” with regional countries.
Neither Christians nor Muslims will allow anyone to change Lebanon’s identity, the Phalange leader warned.
He reiterated his call for Hizbullah to recognize the legitimacy of the Lebanese state, put its arms under the control of the Lebanese army and hand over the four suspects in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 murder case to the Lebanese authorities.
“If the accused are saints then we wouldn’t have had martyrs,” Gemayel quipped.
He stressed that his party backs the Special Tribunal for Lebanon because it believes in justice and wants stability.
Turning to President Michel Suleiman’s invitation for dialogue, the former president said: “Dialogue requires that all parties believe in the state of law and legitimate authorities.”
“The Phalange doesn’t reject dialogue,” he said, wondering “what benefits the dialogue would have, if they consider the arms sacred.”
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