Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun has denied that he proposed his son-in-law Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz to be appointed army chief.
“I am always criticized over my alleged intentions and thoughts,” Aoun told al-Akhbar newspaper in the second part of an interview published on Wednesday. “I never said I wanted him (Roukoz) army commander. Journalists said so.”
Full StoryFree Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun has promised to hold accountable corrupt officials if he were elected a president, denying that he has made certain political concessions and stressing that he is part of the resistance axis against jihadists and Israel.
“If I were elected president, I would deploy the accountability system and consolidate judicial inspection,” Aoun told al-Akhbar newspaper in a lengthy interview published on Tuesday.
Full StoryDeputy Lebanese Forces leader and lawmaker George Adwan described on Monday the dialogue between the party and the Free Patriotic Movement as “positive,” stressing that Hizbullah's performance is thwarting the election of a new head of state.
“We have bridged the gaps and the ties are almost normal... The agreement document is almost 80 percent done,” Adwan said in an interview with An Nahar newspaper.
Full StoryLebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced Friday that the ongoing dialogue with the Free Patriotic Movement will eventually lead to “joint political steps,” noting that Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is harming Shiites and all Lebanese through his group's intervention in Syria.
“Popular bases in Lebanon interact with their leaders and they will see how the LF-FPM dialogue will be translated into joint political steps,” said Geagea in an interview on al-Jadeed FM radio.
Full StoryLebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea described the presidential deadlock as a “misery,” laying blame on Hizbullah-backer Iran and saying no solution was currently lying on the horizon .
“More than any other time Iran does not want a president for Lebanon unless he belonged to its camp,” Geagea told journalists who visited him in Maarab on Tuesday.
Full StoryChange and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan said on Tuesday that the Free Patriotic Movement is awaiting for the Lebanese Forces to put its comments on the understanding that was reached between the representatives of the two parties in order for the agreements to take effect.
“It is normal for the process to take its time, in particular when highlighting the common characteristics in delicate and important matters,” Kanaan told al-Joumhouria newspaper.
Full StoryThe Free Patriotic Movement has announced that a much-anticipated meeting between FPM chief MP Michel Aoun and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea will be held when the two parties decide to start discussing the presidential crisis in their ongoing dialogue.
“Dialogue with the LF has reached a political agreement through the document of principles and any coming session between the two parties will be limited to the issue of presidency,” MP Alain Aoun of the FPM announced in an interview with al-Liwaa newspaper to be published Monday.
Full StoryLebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea stressed the necessity to unite Arab and International efforts to strictly combat extremism and terrorism and all its organizations.
Geagea also underlined, in a statement issued by his press office on Saturday, the necessity to refine the prevailing image of Islam and reveal its true noble nature.
Full StoryLebanese Forces official Melhem Riachi stressed on Friday that it's normal for talks with the Free Patriotic Movement, which aim at preparing for a wider meeting between FPM chief MP Michel Aoun and LF leader Samir Geagea, to take a long time.
“A page from the past will be folded and we will not go back there,” Riachi said in comments published in al-Mustaqbal newspaper.
Full StoryThe dialogue between the Free Patriotic Movement and Lebanese Forces could witness positive developments after the Vatican announced its backing for the upcoming meeting between the two parties' leaders.
Al-Mustaqbal daily quoted sources as saying on Wednesday that the Vatican's ambassador to Lebanon, Bishop Gabriel Caccia, has warned against attempts to paralyze the negotiations between the FPM and LF.
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