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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Aoun will not forge unconditional unity
2005-04-28
Nine days before the end of his 15-year exile in France, former Army Commander General Michel Aoun said that he will not forge alliances with the opposition in the next elections if they fail to agree on a minimal joint program. Speaking to local journalists through a videophone at the Press Club Wednesday, Aoun said: "There won't be absolute alliances. I care about the unity of the opposition but we cannot unite temporarily before the elections and split again after we win." He said: "I prefer to lose in the next elections rather than deceive people when they discover after four years that we lied to them and didn't meet their aspirations."

Aoun said that he is ready to have candidates in all electoral districts where his Free Patriotic Movement has popular support, even if the opposition has other candidates in those areas. When asked why he thinks more loyalists than opposition members support his homecoming, Aoun said: "You should ask some opposition members why they fear my return." Aoun, who has been in exile for rejecting the Syrian presence in Lebanon, said: "It is a miracle that Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon. The Lebanese never thought this could one day happen."
Posted by:Fred

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