Geagea Says He’d Think Twice before Meeting with Rival Maronite Leaders Again
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said he would think twice before attending another meeting of the country’s Maronite leaders at the seat of the patriarchate in Bkirki.
In an interview with al-Joumhouria daily published Monday, Geagea said: “The first experience wasn’t encouraging.”
He said personal attacks against him confirm that the leaders are not serious in Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s attempt to start a reconciliation process.
“When the conferees do not respect their pledges and cross the limit of political differences to attacks on the personal level, I would think twice about the possibility of participating” in another meeting, Geagea said.
He was referring to a meeting held in Bkirki in April between him, Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel, Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun and Marada movement leader Suleiman Franjieh.
Another conference between the rival Maronite leaders and lawmakers was held last month with a call to safeguard Lebanese land and achieve an equal division of posts between Christians and Muslims in state institutions.
Geagea denied that he would host a meeting of March 14 leaders at his residence in Maarab, and stressed that his absence from the last Bristol conference and the dinner thrown by the president in Amsheet wasn’t deliberate.
He said he didn’t attend both events for being abroad.
On President Michel Suleiman’s invitation for national dialogue at Baabda palace, Geagea said: “We support dialogue on condition that it becomes serious.”
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is defending the status quo while the March 14 forces are demanding quite the opposite, the LF chief told al-Joumhouria.
“Things couldn’t be straightened up in Lebanon with the presence of a defense strategy outside the Lebanese state,” he said, stressing on the need to put Hizbullah’s arms under the control of the state.
“When we agree on this, we go to the dialogue to see how to reach a deal on this process,” Geagea added.
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