LF: WikiLeaks Report Confirmed that Party Doesn’t Possess Weapons
The Lebanese Forces stated on Wednesday that the WikiLeaks cable released by Al-Akhbar newspaper on Tuesday confirmed that the party does not possess weapons.
The cable claimed that LF leader Samir Geagea had informed former U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison that the party has 10,000 trained fighters ready to combat Hizbullah.
The LF statement added: “The cable, dated May 9, 2008, coincided with Hizbullah’s shelling of Mount Lebanon and invasion of Beirut and therefore the statements made during the meeting could not be taken out of the context of the developments witnessed in Lebanon during the May 7.”
“Geagea spoke of resorting to fighters should the army fail in protecting all Lebanese territories, which demonstrated that he placed the army as a priority,” it continued.
“He also clearly demanded that the army commander be pressured to protect the people and state institutions, suggesting the deployment of an Arab deterrent force as a second resort,” it added.
He also made such a demand publicly, leaving self defense as the last resort, said the statement.
“Geagea’s implicit positions are the same he constantly makes in the open, a fact that even his political adversaries acknowledge,” it noted.
“This all demonstrated that the Lebanese Forces does not possess any weapons,” it stressed.
It criticized Al-Akhbar saying that it jumps to conclusions without taking into consideration the context in which the statements were made.
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