Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stated on Tuesday that Internal Security Force chief Major General Ashraf Rifi’s several violations “make him ineligible to remain in his position in office.”
He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “His statement that he was born out of the March 14 camp’s womb is one of his violations because this is not part of the ISF law.”
“Whoever covers up his violations does not want the rise of the state and its institutions,” he added.
On the dispute over land ownership in the town of Lassa, the MP said that this dispute dates back to 1939 when a land survey took place and quarrel broke out over it.
A meeting recently took place under Bkirki’s sponsorship in order to settle the affair, Aoun noted.
This issue is no longer a dispute, but a matter that should be settled in court, he stressed.
“This is a dispute among brothers” and whoever tried to portray it as a Shiite-Christian problem is attempting to create unrest, he emphasized.
A few weeks ago, a delegation from the Maronite League was prevented from conducting a land survey in Lassa and few days afterwards an MTV crew was attacked by a party as it was attempting to film in the area.
On upcoming Christian meetings under the sponsorship of the Maronite Patriarchate, Aoun said: “No one is forcing any one to take part in the meeting.”
He made his statement in response to Lebanese Force leader Samir Geagea’s recent statements that “he would think twice before attending such meetings in the future.”
“No one is forced to remain silent when his rights are violated. We are not defending Hizbullah as it doesn’t require anyone to defend it,” Aoun continued.
“Its arms should be studied through a defense strategy,” he stressed.
“The decision of war and peace is in Israeli and American hands, not in Lebanon and Hizbullah’s control,” the MP noted.
“We are the ones who were attacked and we defended ourselves. An occupied people have the right to liberate their land through any means available,” the FPM leader declared.
“Hizbullah did not direct its weapons to the internal scene except in response to a decision by the Lebanese government,” Aoun said.
On the trial of retired general Fayez Karam, the MP stated: “I think the next trial will be the last one. I have looked at the case and I hope the judges would assess it without being affected by media campaigns.”
Regarding the March 14 legal conference held at the Bristol Hotel on Tuesday, he remarked: “Respecting U.N. resolutions takes place through the parliament, cabinet, and presidency, but in the past agreements were illegally adopted and therefore, we are not obligated to cooperate with the U.N.”
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