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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Aoun Urges Suleiman to Settle False Witnesses Issue, Slams Bkirki's Christian Meeting |
| 2010-11-11 |
| Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... leader MP Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... on Tuesday urged President Michel Suleiman to settle the thorny issue of false witnesses during Wednesday's decisive cabinet session. Briefing the media after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, Aoun declared that the Opposition was determined to resort to a vote in Cabinet on referring the false witnesses issue to the Judicial Council. Asked about the possibility of Premier Saad Hariri's withdrawal from the session should the Opposition insist on voting, Aoun said: "In that case, we'll know that the government is evading its responsibilities and that the cover up the judiciary has been offering to false witnesses is in collaboration with the government." Commenting on the issue of the highly-anticipated indictment to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Leb, Aoun said: "We have never demanded the annulment of the tribunal, but we've been always asking for matters that reflect the tribunal's credibility." "False witnesses were induced by someone and we want to know who was behind them," he added. "When the STL declared that it has no jurisdiction to look into this file, we decided to resort to the Judicial Council," said Aoun of the false witnesses issue. Aoun reassured that the Opposition has "the sufficient strength to preserve the country's unity." Asked about the broad Christian meeting that was held in Bkirki on Friday, Aoun described it as an expression of "premonitions," noting that it was not fit to declare a "call." "I don't have concerns at all, and I don't need to be afraid of Hizbullah. To those who say that Hizbullah is illegitimate, we say that all the resistance movements on earth are legitimate for the sake of defending one's country," Aoun stressed. "Since 2006, we've been domestically arguing whether we will defend ourselves, surrender or let the U.N., whose decision was defied by (Israeli Premier Benjamin) Netanyahu, defend us." Aoun described the national dialogue sponsored by President Suleiman as "dysfunctional," saying it "has been revolving around the same issues since four years." "I don't have any extra time to waste in this regard," the FPM leader declared. Turning to the economic issue, Aoun said that "the State's pillars are all shaken, from finance to security and judiciary, and this is what makes the country vulnerable to unrest." "That's why we call on everyone to realize what's happening." "We are the victim and we have the right to resort to the judiciary, at least to safeguard the rights of the people. The state finances are in a mess and I repeat: the country is robbed, not bankrupt." |
| Posted by:Fred |