Opposition Officials Demand Cutting Relations with Syria over Samaha Case
Several March 14 camp officials lauded the discovery of a Syrian plot to create strife in Lebanon, as revealed by former minister and MP Michel Samaha’s arrest, saying the country should cut ties with Syria, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.
MP Marwan Hamadeh hoped that Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour “would highlight the development to his Arab counterparts at the Jeddah conference.”
“Syria would have destroyed civil peace in Lebanon had its plan been successful,” he remarked.
“It is time to summon the Syrian ambassador in Lebanon and return him and the explosives to Syria,” he noted.
“Our ambassador in Damascus should return until a new democratic regime that is peaceful towards Lebanon is formed,” said Hamadeh.
Arab foreign ministers were set to hold a meeting on Syria in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Phalange Party MP Sami Gemayel meanwhile hoped to An Nahar that all sides would await the results of the legal proceedings before jumping to conclusions in Samaha’s case.
“Every person is innocent until proven guilty,” he remarked.
“It would be the first time in 30 years that the Syrian regime would be caught in the act” of violating Lebanon should the charges against him be proven, noted the MP.
“Only then should anyone issuing statements in support to Samaha be punished,” added Gemayel.
These measures should be followed with canceling the treaty of friendship and cooperation between Lebanon and Syria, halting security coordination between the two countries, expelling the Syrian ambassador to Lebanon, and trying Samaha for grand treason, he stressed.
March 14 General Secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid revealed to An Nahar that the March 14 forces have held consultation over the past 48 hours, in light of Samaha’s arrest.
MP Fouad Saniora will inform President Michel Suleiman of the conclusions of the talks during his meeting with him on Monday, he added.
“This issue has become a national cause that transcends the case of the telecom data and Hizbullah’s position on the national defense strategy,” he noted.
In addition, Soaid suggested that the president and entire government must take the decision to “sever ties with the Syrian regime and refuse to sit at the same table with its members.”
They must also submit a request to the United Nations, in accordance to Security Council resolution 1701, to control the border with Syria in support of the Lebanese army, he continued.
This must also be accompanied with a complaint against the Syrian regime “that has demonstrated that it wants to create strife in Lebanon,” he stated.
The Military Tribunal charged on Saturday Samaha and Syrian security Chief Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk with forming a group to commit crimes in Lebanon.
Some reports said that they were planning on carrying out attacks against various political and religious figures.
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