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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Hariri: Beirut will never again be a hostage to Hezbollah arms |
| 2008-09-26 |
| Lebanon's Al Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri declared after meeting a Hezbollah team on Wednesday that Beirut will never again be a hostage to Hezbollah weapons, but should be under state-army control. Right. They promised. You believe them. Hariri made the announcement in addressing an Iftar banquet, hardly two hours after meeting the Hezbollah team at his Beirut residence. By meeting the Hezbollah team "we broke thick ice," Hariri said. He's meeting with a bridge salesman tomorrow morning, too. Gonna get a real good buy. The meeting was meant to achieve a "disengagement of the popular clash," Hariri said. "We would not issue a certificate of pardon to anybody ... history would judge who caused harm to the capital," he added. "We shoulder the responsibility of safeguarding the second independence ... achieved by the March 14 alliance," Hariri said as the cheerful crowd applauded. "We want the state and the army to be the arbitrators. We don't want Beirut to remain a hostage of factional sedition," Hariri stressed. He said the Taif accord "remains the framework that commands national tracks as well as the state base." Hariri praised the speech of President Michel Suleiman in New York and his commitment to the international tribunal. "This speech is a new motivation for the national dialogue" he said |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 LH, I'm sure you are right about Hariri's cynicism, what I don't see is what the upside of this bargain is for him and the rest of the Lebs. Why bother in the first place? |
| Posted by: AlanC 2008-09-26 12:46 |
| #2 MP Saad Hariri declared after meeting a Hezbollah team on Wednesday that Beirut will never again be a hostage to Hezbollah weapons, but should be under state-army control. Im quite sure Mr Hariri is just as cynical about Leb politics as we are. What is he supposed to do? Having managed to bargain a promise out of Hezb, hes trying to make it worth 1 cent on the dollar instead of zero by waving Hezbs promise around in public. Should he wait for the 3rd ID to rescue him? The IDF? The French army? |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-09-26 10:47 |
| #1 "Saad Hariri declared after meeting a Hezbollah team on Wednesday that Beirut will never again be a hostage to Hezbollah weapons, ".....as long as I live! 5-4-3-2----- |
| Posted by: AlanC 2008-09-26 09:28 |