Geagea calls on Shiites to 'free themselves', tells Hezbollah to 'wake up'

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has told Hezbollah that its problem will not be with a party but rather with the state and the army, if it insists on keeping its arms.

"We will no longer accept non-Lebanese decisions or allow one group to control the fate of the Lebanese people. Lebanon comes first, above all else," the christian leader said, days after Cabinet approved a plan prepared by the army to monopolize weapons in the war-hit country.

Geagea told Hezbollah that they have lost their war with Israel and that there can be no new "May 7" nor a siege of the Serail nor a civil war.

"For years, you have destroyed the Lebanese people's dreams and institutions with weapons and terrorism, and tried to impose your project at the expense of the state's project. You have monopolized the decision of war and peace, and severed Lebanon's relations with the Arab world and the international community.

"You defended a criminal regime in Syria and got involved in a support war that you miscalculated... And now you threaten with civil war," Geagea said.

Geagea urged Hezbollah to "wake up" and "come back to reason". "If you think and imagine that you can threaten, intimidate, and frighten, you are mistaken and delusional. No May 7 again, no one wants it and no one wants civil war," he said. "If you want a one-sided war, go for it, but you must know that your problem is not with any sect or party, your problem is with the state, its government, its army, its institutions, its supporters, and the overwhelming majority of the Lebanese people."

Hezbollah's weapons did not protect the Shiites but rather endangered their lives, Geagea said, calling on the Shiites to "free themselves" and to live side by side with other Lebanese citizens.

"You are an essential component of the Lebanese society and the Lebanese will not accept any injustice, discrimination, or infringement on your rights (after Hezbollah disarms)," he said. "The real solution is the path to the state. Trust that the state will protect you and that is is the only refuge and the only guarantee."