France Complains of Lebanese Leaderships’ Lack of Vision on Iranian, Syrian Developments
Naharnet Exclusive Report - Paris
High-ranking French officials have complained that the Lebanese leaderships have not devised a clear way to deal with the repercussions the Iranian and Syrian developments may have on the internal Lebanese scene.
A concerned French diplomatic source told Naharnet from Paris that French officials have asked several Lebanese political, party, and spiritual figures a number of questions on their view of the future in Lebanon in light of French attempts to find ways to help Lebanon confront the pressures it is facing.
The French presidency and Foreign Ministry were “shocked” to find that none of these leaderships had a clear vision of dealing with the upcoming phase on the political, economic, and security levels, revealed the source.
It added: “The Lebanese officials have asked us about our positions on Syria, Iran, and Hizbullah and we explained it to them. Unfortunately however, none of whom we met has been able to present us with a clear and comprehensive vision of the policy Lebanon will adopt in tackling the negative repercussions regional developments may have on the country.”
The diplomatic source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated that none of Prime Minister Najib Miqati, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, and various March 14 officials have a clear plan and mechanism to tackle the next phase in Lebanon.
“They all come complaining to us, whether directly or indirectly, of Syria, Iran, and Hizbullah,” it remarked.
They all want to know if the international community will act decisively with these sides, but none of them gave a clear answer to how the Lebanese will act if Syrian President Bashar Assad remained in power or was toppled, it said.
None of them had an answer to Hizbullah’s fate if Assad remained in rule or stepped down, or if Iran maintained its power or became weakened, added the source.
“France or the United States cannot replace the role of the Lebanese in preparing themselves for the changes in the region because these changes cannot benefit the idea of the state and the constitutional institutions unless the Lebanese were ready, on the internal scene, to reap the fruits of freedom and democracy on the Arab scene,” it noted.
“The Lebanese had wasted more than one opportunity in the past to achieve this goal, the last of which was the 2005 independence intifada, and nothing prevents a similar scenario from taking place again,” it concluded.
Source: Naharnet
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