Geagea Hits Back at Nasrallah: Ready to File Lawsuits on Arms' Breach of Constitution
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stated on Thursday that the March 14 camp does not deny what was reported in the recently published WikiLeaks cables.
He said during a press conference: “All that was said in the cables, I repeat every day. All that we stated is true and we are free to perceive them as we wish.”
He added in an indirect reference to Hizbullah that the cables are impressions dictated by an ambassador to a writer who then sends them to the U.S. State Department.
There, they are archived and then released to a Lebanese newspaper where they are translated and published, he said.
Geagea noted: “They say that the documents are terrible and they want to condemn people based on them. The other camp is using WikiLeaks in order to intimidate us and others who don’t think the way they do.”
“It’s as if they want to set up a ministry dedicated for trying all who do not see things their way,” he remarked.
He asked Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah without naming him: “Who appointed you as the resistance?”
“We consider you to be an armed Lebanese party and you cannot force us to believe that you are a resistance. Hizbullah cannot govern the Lebanese based on its perception of affairs,” he stressed.
“No one appointed Hizbullah to protect Lebanon and we don’t want them to make sacrifices for us. Let the army present the sacrifices,” he continued.
In addition, he said: “If you want to file lawsuits, then our files are ready as well.”
He asked: “Does Hizbullah’s military power answer to the President as stipulated by article 49 of the constitution, or is it subject to Cabinet? Does the state oversee the party’s military operations or not?”
“The government has the right to announce a state of emergency and end it, while Hizbullah does the same, including staging a prisoner swap with Israel, which the government is not even involved in,” he noted.
“This is a violation of the constitution,” Geagea stated.
“Is there still any need for the constitution and laws?” he asked.
Addressing Hizbullah’s recent positions on Bahrain and Egypt, he remarked: “A state’s foreign policy should be declared by the government and not a party within the country.”
“They say that the ministerial statement discusses resisting Israel, but who said that that resistance means you?” he asked.
The statement stipulates that the government is the sole authority concerned with Lebanon’s defense strategy, he stressed.
Furthermore, Lebanon’s penal code states that punishments should be laid down on armed groups existing outside the state, he noted.
“The situation in Lebanon cannot persist and we can no longer be held responsible for other people’s actions,” Geagea said.
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