Murr Voices Support for Suleiman, Says ‘Things Back on Track’

Former Defense Minister Elias Murr said on Tuesday that publishing the WikiLeaks cables were behind the rift with President Michel Suleiman, but things are back to normal.

“Things are back on track and better than before,” Murr told An Nahar newspaper.

He stressed that there are no personal interests behind the relations with Suleiman, saying: “We have been friends for 25 years.”

Suleiman held talks on Monday with Murr for the first time since al-Jadeed TV broadcasted its “Truth Leaks” series earlier this year in which Murr criticized Suleiman for his performance while he was the Army Commander.

“This meeting stresses our political and personal support to the policies undertaken by the president,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

A leaked U.S. Embassy cable dated May 13, 2008 also revealed that Murr voiced his disappointment with the army's performance during the May 7, 2008 clashes, describing then Army Commander (Suleiman) as a coward.

The WikiLeaks cable spoke of a meeting between Murr and then U.S. Charge d'Affaires Michele Sison who noted that then U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman's criticism to Suleiman over the army's performance, "which could mean that the army is either being cautious or is a conspirator in the clashes."

Murr agreed to the assessment, saying: "These are Suleiman's rules: caution, cowardice, and conspiring."

After meeting with the former Defense Minister on Monday, Suleiman criticized media reports that don’t necessarily reflect the actual ties between various political leaders and authorities.

“These reports instead reflect their writers’ intentions to create disputes and they should therefore be disregarded in order to maintain Lebanon’s unity and stability,” he said.