Bassil says 'no defeat or victory' in Hezbollah-Israel war
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil said he supports Hezbollah in defending Lebanon but not in exposing it, calling for a full implementation of the ceasefire with Israel and for keeping Lebanon away from regional conflicts.
"We have lost the deterrence equation but Israel today cannot stroll in Lebanon the way it did in 1982," Bassil said in a televised interview. "There is neither defeat nor victory, but the Shiites now know that they cannot bet on other arenas and cannot continue with wrong choices."
Bassil added that Hezbollah has not been militarily crushed and that the Shiite component is not destroyed and cannot be excluded from the presidential juncture. "Neither can the opposition."
Bassil stressed that he rather supports a consensual president and that he himself has no chances as a presidential candidate.
Lebanese Forces Leader Samir Geagea has the right to nominate himself as a presidential candidate, Bassil said. "If he changes his approach, we would have no objection."
Source: Naharnet
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