"Israel" is Enemy Number One in Lebanon

Source: Alalam.ir, 22-05-2008
BEIRUT-A Lebanese lawmaker said Thursday that Lebanese factions should close ranks to stand up against the 'Israeli' regime, which was described as "their common and number one enemy."
MP Abdel Majid Saleh of the Liberation and Development bloc told Alalam Thursday: "Regarding the understanding reached among the Lebanese, they do not need to take up arms (against each other). The 'Israeli' regime will always remain the number one enemy of all the Lebanese."
The parliamentarian made the remarks after the once-feuding Lebanese faction reached an Arab League-mediated agreement in the Qatari capital on Wednesday to put an end to the 18-month power sharing stalemate that had crippled the country.
Saleh said the Doha agreement, reached among the rivals to tackle the country's political crisis, should be implemented fully, despite the existing complicated situation.
He stressed foreign interference in Lebanon's internal affairs was aimed at making conditions further complicated and said, "The Lebanese groups should stop worrying about durability of the Doha accord and look at it positively."
Saleh, a representative of the opposition Amal movement, dismissed claims that the intra-Lebanese talks sought to invigorate one group at the cost of the other.
Noting that the Doha deal was well-balanced, Saleh said the two sides had given each other incentives to reach the principle of peaceful coexistence, because "experience has shown that a special group has never been able to rule Lebanon alone."
He said that Lebanon did not wish to amend the Taif accord, which is more comprehensives and broader than the Doha deal.
The Lebanese MP stressed growing national reconciliation, end to internal rift and consolidation of the principle of peaceful coexistence.
He added that Doha deal would "heal old wounds" and ensure a promising future for all the Lebanese people.
"Furthermore, the deal will open a new chapter in Lebanon's history and help restoration of calm and peace to the country," he added.
Lebanon, which is currently going through one of its gravest political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, is pegging its hopes on the implementation of the Doha agreement.
The country has been without a president since former President Emile Lahoud completed his constitutional mandate in November 2007.