Phalange Party Urges 'Quick Cabinet Formation,' Says Alternative to Dialogue is State's 'Collapse'

The Phalange Party on Monday stressed on the importance of forming a new to safeguard Lebanon from the repercussions of the Syrian crisis.

"The dangerous turn internal and regional events are taking require hurrying up in the formation of a new cabinet,” a statement released by the party said after the political bureau's weekly meeting.

And the new council of ministers should be based on the principles of the Baabda Declaration and that call for disassociating Lebanon from the Syrian conflict, it added.

The statement assured: “The Phalange Party welcomes any political initiatives that lead to reaching consensus.”

But President Michel Suleiman's call for resuming national dialogue remains the basis for any solution, the conferees noted.

"The substitute for dialogue would be the state's collapse.”

The politburo denounced autonomous security and considered it a “confiscation of the exclusive right of the state to apply security measures.”

"The state's failure to seriously deal with this issues raises chaos in the country,” it warned.

"We reiterate our commitment to the legal institutions to preserve security and we remind the people of the role that municipality police can play along with the security forces.”

The statement called for dealing with the reasons that triggered several nations to warn their citizens about visiting Lebanon.

Several Western and Arab countries have issued similar travel warnings recently, amid fears that a likely military strike on Syria might have repercussions across the region.

"We also condemn the attacks on the convoys of the Saudi and Kuwaiti embassies in Lebanon. This is a violation to diplomatic customs and it harms the country's prestige and its relationships with Arab and foreign countries.”

Meanwhile, the conferees praised the work of security and judicial bodies “for uncovering a network behind last month's deadly explosions in the northern city of Tripoli and for thwarting plans that aim at dragging Lebanon into sectarian strife.”

"We demand an immediate and transparent probe so that the case of these attackers becomes a lesson for others,” they stressed.

The First Military Examining Magistrate called on Monday for the release of the head of the pro-Syria Islamic Tawhid Movement-Command Council Sheikh Hashem Minkara but he issued arrest warrants against two other suspects in connection with twin bombings in Tripoli.

The sheikh had been accused by the military prosecution of withholding information from the authorities.

Also Monday, Judge Riyad Abu Ghida ordered the arrest of Sheikh Ahmed al-Gharib and informer Mustafa Houri following their interrogation.

Forty-five people were killed and at least 800 wounded in the Tripoli bombings that targeted two Sunni mosques as worshipers were performing weekly prayers.