Suleiman: My Call for Dialogue is Aimed at Achieving Sovereignty, Stability
President Michel Suleiman stated that it is time that the Lebanese people enjoy “the least amount of calm and stability” given the turbulent regional situation, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.
He told the daily: “My call to resume the national dialogue is aimed at achieving sovereignty, stability, and security.”
“We are seeking to maintain our distance from regional developments,” he stressed.
He made his remarks upon his arrival in Uruguay, the last stop on his South American tour.
“We have so far succeeded in confronting the dangers lurking around us through adhering to reason that stems from our sense of responsibility” and commitment to the people, who have suffered for decades from various hardships, Suleiman noted.
“The principles of national unity cannot but be instilled through constructive dialogue aimed at fortifying Lebanon and its immunity against challenges,” he continued.
“The national dialogue was formed to this end and it has a clear agenda linked to the possession of arms in Lebanon,” the president told As Safir.
“The agenda calls for distinguishing between resistance arms that can be incorporated in a defense strategy for Lebanon and arms spread throughout the country that we seek to seize,” he explained.
“Any arms used on the internal scene are not part of the defense strategy and they should be seized,” stressed Suleiman.
He to Argentine reporters on Thursday that “the Resistance's arms are part of a defense strategy we're putting together at the dialogue sessions, and they are to be used only to defend Lebanon against any Israeli attack and to support the Lebanese army according to the decision of the political authority. While the weapons that are being used domestically must be prohibited and removed, whether they belong to Hizbullah, the Salafist forces or anyone else.”
“We are exerting efforts towards this objective but we have not achieved it yet. The issue of the proliferation of arms domestically was placed on the dialogue table's agenda and the first phase will be putting a moratorium on the use of these arms ahead of removing them,” Suleiman added.
The national dialogue resumed in June after a 19-month absence.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/56070 |