Naharnet

Geagea: Our Struggle Won't Stop before Formation of Sovereign, Patriotic Govt.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Sunday called for the formation of a “sovereign, truly patriotic government,” stressing that the “struggle” of the March 14 forces will not stop before the departure of Prime Minister Najib Miqati's government.

“Today, we laid to rest martyr Wissam al-Hasan and all the martyrs but we reject to even think of bidding farewell to another figure once again,” Geagea said in a televised address.

“The current government is directly or indirectly responsible for the assassination operations in Lebanon because it created the environment for assassinations,” Geagea charged.

“How many battles were fought to prevent the handing over of telecom data (to security agencies) and the assassination would not have happened without a cover from a certain state authority,” he added.

The LF leader noted that the “first step” towards a solution to the country's political and security problems should be “the departure of this government, although it comprises some friends and some members who have good will.”

“We count on the patriotic sense of some of them and we call on them to resign,” Geagea added.

“Between 2005 and 2010, we tried the approach of national unity governments and we all lived and suffered the disastrous outcome, which included paralysis, hegemony and the invasion of Beirut and some areas,” he said.

“After that we tried the government formed by the March 8 camp and centrists and the result was the assassination of Wissam al-Hasan after two assassination attempts in Maarab and Badaro, security chaos and a scary deterioration at all levels,” Geagea added.

Thousands of mourners participated earlier on Sunday in the funeral of slain Major General Wissam al-Hasan, chief of the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau, who was killed by a powerful car bombing on Friday blamed on the Damascus regime.

Hasan was killed on Friday in a powerful car bombing in the Ashrafiyeh district in Beirut.

Conflicting reports emerged over the number of dead in the blast with some sides putting the figure at three and others at eight.

At least a hundred people were wounded in the explosion.


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