Suleiman: Hizbullah A Key Lebanese Component, Its Weapons to Counter ’’Israeli’’ Aggressions
"As-Safir" Lebanese newspapers reported Saturday the details of the meeting that was held between President Michel Suleiman and the Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott in Canberra.
According to the daily, Suleiman stressed that "the Lebanese people live in accordance with the constitution that guarantees consensual democracy and moves in harmony with the Lebanese pluralistic society."
"The sectarian components have an active role in the political life as a specific "quota" without linking this role to numbers," the President stressed, pointing out that "the Lebanese democracy suits the future globalization atmosphere."
In response to Abbott's question on the Lebanese resistance's arms and role, Suleiman confirmed that "Hizbullah is a key component particularly at the Lebanese social level."
"It is very natural that Hizbullah has a role within the government," he further added.
Concerning the arms of the resistance, the president said that "difficulties rise from the military aspect of Hizbullah which in turn results from the existing "Israeli"- Palestinian conflict in the Middle East."
Suleiman reiterated that "Palestinians were displaced from their land in 1948 due to the "Israeli" occupation that extended to other Arab countries."
"Palestinians were deprived their rights for more than sixty years, and this is the basis of the world's turmoil, including international terrorism," he said, clarifying that "terrorism took from this continuous "Israeli" injustice against the Palestinians as a pretext to carry out terrorist operations."
""Israel" still occupies parts of the Lebanese territories, despite the issuance of international resolutions calling it to withdraw, and this is in itself a big reason for the constant tension," Suleiman highlighted.
He further told his Australian host that " "Israel's" displacement to about half a million Palestinians to Lebanon is an act of oppression and occupation."
"Hizbullah's weapons are a result of the Palestinian's displacement as well as the series of "Israeli" invasions and attacks on the Southern Lebanese lands," Suleiman stressed.
He also asserted that ""Israel" will not be hit by Lebanese missiles unless it initiates attacks against the Lebanese territories."
"The solution to the Middle East conflict is an international responsibility," the President said.
On the Syrian crisis, the Lebanese President predicted that "the democratic transition is inevitable in Syria."
"I can almost tell that such transition appears through the recent referendum," he said, noting that "85 percent of those who participated in the referendum supported changing the constitution and the adoption of a new one."
He further called "all Syrian parties to initiate their dialogue immediately so that they would agree on the form of democracy they seek."
Suleiman viewed that "Syria's crisis is political and not sectarian."
Asked about Lebanon's position from the Iranian nuclear file, the President clarified that "our relationship with Iran makes us believe the statements of Ayatollah [His Eminence] Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei."
"In our bilateral meetings with Sayyed Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as well as the foreign minister, the Iranian officials always assure us that they do not have and do not seek nuclear weapons," Suleiman emphasized.
Source: as-Safir Lebanese daily, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org
