Hariri Expects Action from Hollande, Accuses Hizbullah of Sending Fighters to Hizbullah
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri urged Hizbullah on Wednesday to stop sending fighters to Syria and stressed the need for the international community, led by France, to take action on Syria.
“We don't accept for any Lebanese to fight alongside the crimes” committed by the Syrian regime, Hariri said following talks with French President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace.
“Hizbullah should stop sending arms and fighters to Syria,” he said.
“President Hollande backs the Syrian people,” Hariri, who is the head of al-Mustaqbal movement, told reporters.
He told Le Monde newspaper ahead of his meeting with the French President that he "expects more action from Paris because it is in France's best interest to not only take the best positions, but the best actions as well.”
“France has a very important role to play and it has issued strong statements since the beginning of the Syrian revolt,” he said.
“If France encourages its allies to grant the Syrian opposition what it needs, then it may be capable of forming protected areas for the refugees and the Syrian people,” he noted.
“Those supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad do so against their will. The more the Free Syrian Army is supported, the more defections will take place,” he remarked.
Hariri noted however that the Syrian opposition “is not perfect, but that is normal.”
“The Free Syrian Army has the courage to admit mistakes when they happen,” he added.
Commenting on Lebanese affairs, the former minister said that he does not fear the eruption of a civil war in Lebanon “because no power is willing to head down that path.”
On the Syrian border violations, he praised the government's “wisdom” on the developments in Syria.
He noted however that “one must not submit to the violations. Had the government taken a firmer stand, the Syrian regime would not have shelled areas in northern Lebanon.”
“The Syrian regime is attacking us because we are weak. The regime would never address Turkey in the same manner it addresses Lebanon,” said Hariri.
On the 2013 parliamentary elections, he declared: “I will return to Lebanon and I will take part in the elections.”
“I will run in the elections and I will win as long as they are not rigged,” he announced.
“All those banking on the end of my political career are mistaken,” he stressed.
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