Aoun: After Dialogue Statement, Govt. Must Control Security in North, Bekaa
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday called on the government to address the situation in the Bekaa and the North and to “take control of security” there, following the “Baabda Declaration” agreed by the members of the national dialogue committee on Monday.
“We announced that the outcome of dialogue was positive given that everyone agreed on that and we hope everyone will abide by its resolutions,” Aoun said after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc in Rabiyeh.
“We must pay attention that there is a national pact and a declaration that we sent to the U.N. and we must abide by it,” he added.
Aoun warned that weapons in the North and the Bekaa are “violating the sovereignty of Lebanon and Syria.”
“If we want to disassociate ourselves from what's going in in Syria, we must pay attention to what's going on in Akkar, Tripoli and the Bekaa,” he said.
Aoun noted that some 400,000 people live in Tripoli, saying “the government must choose between being on the side of gunmen or on the side of citizens.”
“We must control the foreign presence on our territory and the security agencies -- the (Internal Security Forces’) Intelligence Bureau, the General Security and the army must shoulder this responsibility,” Aoun said.
He called on authorities to pay attention to the latest incidents on the border with Syria, revealing will raise the issue “in depth” during the next dialogue session.
“During dialogue, (ex-PM Fouad) Saniora said he wants to disarm Hizbullah and I asked him about the alternative and he said ‘the army,’ so I didn't answer him back. The question is whether the army can perform this mission given its current capabilities,” Aoun added.
Source: Naharnet
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