A meeting was held Monday on the eve of the national Dialogue talks between Prime Minister Saad Hariri, former PM Fouad Saniora, Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea . The meeting led to agreement that the defense strategy should be the only item for discussion.
The four leaders, according to Al-Liwaa newspaper also agreed to raise the issue of Arab League involvement in dialogue sessions on the basis that the defense strategy is both a Lebanese and Arab responsibility.
Also prior to the talks Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt called for a “gradual solution” to the issue of the resistance that would lead to the eventual integration of Hezbollah fighters into the Lebanese army
“This issue, however, should be discussed under appropriate conditions for the resistance politically and militarily,” Jumblatt said in remarks published Tuesday by the daily As-Safir.
He said this issue should be discussed after the Lebanese army’s defense capabilities were strengthened and not before.
Jumblatt said the defense system should include anti-aircraft guns, surface-to-air missiles as well as anti-armor and ground defense weapons.
He stressed the need to deal with the issue of the defense strategy in a “comprehensive manner and in accordance with the prevailing conditions, and not from the standpoint of the resistance’s arms.”
During the dialogue talks Tuesday Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh raised the issue of the weapons of Palestinian factions outside the refugee camps and said this should be addressed as part of Lebanon’s national defense strategy.
Franjieh also asked about the future of arms inside the camps, as well as about the state’s responsibility toward Palestinian refugees.
Also during the talks former president and Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel called for keeping Lebanon out of the “game of axes” , a reference to the Syrian-Iranian alliance with Hezbollah. He also asked whether Lebanon wanted to be a “belligerent or compliant” state.
Following the talks , Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea told reporters at Baabda that March 8 representatives did not offer any new suggestions on the defense strategy. He also said the border around the Shebaa Farms should be demarcated and that the UN Security Council should be provided with documents proving the territory is Lebanese.
What a waste of time and energy.
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be opptimistic mate. its not the end of the world
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Keep hoping mate, they have been reconciling their differences for the past 50 years mate. at the same time they have been filling their pockets for the same amount of time, their has never been a strong Lebanon, I don’t know about rebounding, thanks to to the cowards arab countries who always keep their hands in the internal lebanese issues making sure that they will not succeed, and call on the destruction of Israel the little country that they surround, makes me wonder why can’t they put their act together?? because they are a bunch of cowards people. Keep on hoping mate, and I’ll keep on watching
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It may be a waste of time, but in my opinion it is just a positive thing to meet and discuss things face to face.
However, the most important person who should be present in this meeting is not, meaning Nasrallah. His fellow Lebaneses and their demands are less important for him than Assad and Ahmadinajad… Naturally, their are funding him and sending him arms, while if he talks with his fellow Lebaneses he will have to face demands to give the arms away and they won’t be funding his organization. Inchallah Kheir…
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I don’t know about khair, since it is always been (air),all those guys are nothing but a bunch of crooks.
They always meet, drink coffee together, laugh at the poor lebanese people that they are doing something, and fill their pockets with money and ask for raises for themselves when the normal lebanese person is struggling to survive.
The heck with all those guys., I do not see a strong Lebanon any time in the future, as long as there is a government corruption.
Cheers
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strong Lebanon has always been, corruption you can speak about, nothing else. we’ve been able to survive and remain on our country for decades, all we can do is hope that this time these big leaders wont turn a blind eye on the people
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Keeping Watch has unfortunately hit the mark…..
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So, lets go back couple of years and review the events. every one of these sitting at the table proved that each one of this group was or is either a lier, or a killer or a gangster and so on, and I believe each one of them…they meet in the morning, kiss each other , joke, then walk out and each tells his story…the way it pleases his followers.. then do their own thing the next day..reminds me of the movie The God Father…did you guys see that movie….we should congratulate ourselves, we’re all presented at that table…no one of us has anything to worry about, we have been taken care of…..
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Okay guys do you want to know why I think this has become a waste of time.
The reason is that the national dialogue table is represented by ex warlords, crooks, and sectarian so called leaders.
In responce to Bill’s question yes Lebanon is the real God Father movie. The Lebanese cast includes the following family names.
1. Don Vito Corleone as Pierre Gemayel the father
Michael Corleone as Amine Gemayel
Fredo Corleone as Bashir Gemayel
2. Don Emilio Barzini as Rafic Hariri
3. Don Philip Tattaglia as Michel Aoun
Bruno Tattaglia as Gebran Bassil
4.Don Carmine Cuneo as Walid Jumblat
5. Don Tommasino as Samir Geagea
6. Moe Greene as Nabih Berri.
This is the Lebanese Godfather list if anyone has furthur suggestions let us hear it.
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You are absolutely right, I don’t know if my kids will ever break the cycle, and be able to run for office. We always make fun of other countries monarchy system, well, seems to me Lebanon is the same way, except these seats and offices are handed down from one generation in the same family to another generation in the same family. for years and years we keep hearing the same names in the government over and over again. May be Lebanon population is the this handful of families, and every body else has to pledge allegiance to these families??
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What about Hassan Nasrallah and Michel Oun = God the Father and the son??!
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Is he Lebanese?????
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all bullshit…. all lies, no one loves lebanon and he people are suffering..
its quite simple. any lebanese should give his arms to the army for the sake of his country. or f**ck off to syria or iran.
those leaders pretending to be lebanses when it suits them while hiding away rockets and weapons to use against who they like. are in fact iranians. they dont believe in lebanon and they are iranian first. dont be fooled.
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1- looking at the picture above, the conference table, strange enough, with the white flowers in the middle looks like a big coffin with mourners sitting all around, may be it is a big freudian slip on a national scale heralding the fate of this so called “dialogue table”
2- correct me if i am wrong, but genius mr jumblatt is suggesting a “gradual solution” meaning that hizballah should be integrated in the lebanese army AFTER (what year or decade) the Lebanese army’s defense capabilities were strengthened and not before, Jumblatt also said the defense system should include anti-aircraft guns, surface-to-air missiles as well as anti-armor and ground defense weapons…well la di da!!! add rockets to this shopping list and you end up with something similar to hizballah’s weapons inventory.
since this arsenal is already in lebanon why dont you strike a deal with the hizb and you could save also the shipping costs.
but in order for this genius plan to work you need a strong army meaning they should become stronger than the hizb, meaning the hizb who supposedly now has the clear advantage should stop arming himself????? go tell this to hizballah leaders.
3- leader Amin Gemayel called for keeping Lebanon out of the “game of axes”… teuuuuh… what axes in plural are we talking about???
on one hand we have the hizb and cos. with a solid backing of iran and syria right or wrong they have been together for years with unlimited support politically, financially and militarily, forming a solid axe all together.
on the other hand we have the 14th of march folks: hariri, gemayel, geagea and cos.the official sponsors of the glorious cedar revolution that thought the whole world was behind them starting with the lebanese army, the usa, the europeans, the gulf states except quatar, egypt, the united nations etc… and despite winning the latest parliamentary elections and holding the support of the majority of the lebanese people they still cannot touch the hizb nor the palestinians weapons they could not form a government alone and they could not even pass a bill without the prior consent of the hizb and cos.
4- the attempt by the 14th of march folks to raise the issue of Arab League involvement in dialogue sessions on the basis that the defense strategy is both a Lebanese and Arab responsibility is a little too late. unfortunately, due to their flip flop strategies, the inexperienced 14th of march folks could not decide or could not convince any axe to support them despite all the propaganda accusations to the contrary from the other side.
5- if the 14th of march folks do not get their act together, unite and show signs of strenght and start questioning the validity of the support and backing of their supposed allies, they will never be able to sit at a conference table and discuss with the hizb and cos. on equal basis.
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