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Saad al Hariri: There is No Alternative to Dialogue | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Beirut, Asharq Al Awsat – Saad al Hariri, MP and head of the Future Bloc in the Lebanese parliament, warned that what is currently taking place is “a genuine coup project against the Lebanese legitimacy.” He believes that “the essence of the current Lebanese crisis is the presence of an Iranian-sponsored Syrian plan that aims to regain control of the Lebanese legitimacy. The operation order was issued at the end of the Israeli war on Lebanon on August 15 when [Syrian President] Bashar al Asad openly said that what was needed was a change in the political formula in Lebanon, and the toppling of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s government.”

He added that, “there is no way that we would to go back in time to accept any plan that is aimed at infiltrating the authority in Lebanon by Syrian intelligence and its henchmen. Thus it is rejected regardless of their mobilization for it. After driving the Syrian troops out, Lebanon will not accept to be the object of a new plan that seeks to dominate its political and economic destiny.”

Al Hariri welcomed “all brotherly efforts that seek to mitigate differences in Lebanon,” appealing to Lebanese leaders “to not abandon their roles in protecting the dialogue.” He stressed, “We have no alternative to dialogue,” considering that “Hezbollah is primarily the one responsible to defuse the tension on the streets just as Speaker Nabih Berri [of the parliament], is responsible for reinstating order to the logic of dialogue and consultation.”

“The huge paradox is that Hezbollah, which claims its first goal is to liberate the Lebanese territories occupied by the Israeli enemy, now uses slogans to make demands, its supporters besieging the Lebanese government, which only by virtue of its diplomatic and political resistance managed to force Israel to withdraw from the Lebanese occupied areas. The government is working hard to regain the occupied Shebaa farms despite Hezbollah’s media, political and security attack on it.” He added that, “It is truly a paradox that it has become the government’s concern alone to exert efforts on liberating territories, freeing prisoners in Israeli prisons and putting an end to the Israeli violation of Lebanese water- and air- space. Hezbollah renounces all forms of resistance and the dialogue of resistance to solely engage in destabilization, fighting against the Lebanese government and causing disruption to the Lebanese economy, administration and decision.”

“We stood by Hezbollah and defended its right to bear arms as long as it was a Lebanese party that represents a Lebanese resistance in the face of Israeli aggression,” he said. He warned Hezbollah that if it was going to turn its militias against the Lebanese that, “not only will it lose our support and the Lebanese support, but it will also instigate internal and sectarian sedition. We warn against its consequences and are working hard to avoid it,” he said. He added that, “We are reaching out to Hezbollah and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to cooperate with us for this national and Islamic goal instead of letting his military propaganda incite this dissention through al Manar television channel and the faulty slogans that the crowds chant at the gates of the government’s headquarters and in the proximity of the tomb of the martyr Prime Minister Rafik al Hariri. Such slogans are inappropriate in accordance with the Sayyed’s [Nasrallah] manners, which we have known throughout our relation with him.”

Al Hariri stressed that, “we deal with Hezbollah as a Lebanese party that resisted Israel and as one that cannot under any circumstances fall hostage to an external plan aimed at subjugating the national and political decision in Lebanon.” He questioned, “How could we ever forget the blood of the martyrs who confronted the Israeli aggression, and disregard the magnitude of the destruction that befell Lebanon?” He added, “Let them stop manipulating the people’s instincts and nerves. Lebanon is a country that has long suffered from minor and dirty wars. It does not need a new war launched between any of its sons, sects and regions. Lebanon needs protection from the Israeli enemy through the application of Resolution 1701 [the text unanimously passed by the UN Security Council that aims at ending the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon] and from political terrorism by forming the international tribunal. It also needs to reconstruct what was plundered by Israel and to jumpstart its economy by ensuring the success of the Paris III conference.”

He stressed that “Rafik al Hariri’s march with the Lebanese was one of national unity, building and reconstruction, and economic and social stability. It was never a march of provocation, instigation or sedition. Rafik al Hariri opened universities and schools and set the construction wheel in motion in Lebanon. He, along with his supporters and his outlook were not concerned with the culture of death, militia, arms, ruin and dissension,” he said. “Regrettably, they are dragging Lebanon into sedition. We will counter this sedition and will not allow those who wish to undermine the security, economy and dignity of the Lebanese to take us back 30 years in time. Civil wars are behind us now. Those inciting sedition will not succeed in sowing the seeds of dissension between Muslims and Christians, nor between Sunnis and Shia,” he said. He added that, “We are a people of unity and solidarity. I call on everyone to maintain al Hariri’s approach, to foil the attempts of sedition-mongers both inside- and outside- of Lebanon, to counter a wrongdoing with a good deed, and to adhere to the state and its security institutions as they alone are concerned with defending the security and interests of the people.”