Raad Praises Aoun΄s Efforts, Renews Hizbullah Openness

Source: Al-Manar TV, 8-11-2008
While the so-called March 14 forces rushed to assail the head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Michel Aoun's paper on the country's defense strategy a few hours after he submitted it to Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, the Lebanese national opposition was calling for calm and serenity, renewing its readiness to discuss all possible formulas.
In this context, the head of the Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc MP Mohammad Raad recalled that the topic under discussion was a sensitive and delicate one as it's linked to the future of the country. "It discusses the ways of protecting the country against the security and military dangers that threaten it continuously," Raad said, stressing on the serious need to listen to the views of all political factions over the issue in order to reach a unified formula able to defend the country in all circumstances.
Speaking to Lebanese daily As-Safir, Raad commented on Aoun's detailed paper over the issue. He said he appreciates the General's seriousness as well as the efforts exerted by him in drafting a summary for a comprehensive strategy that reflects his own view and experience in the military defense of Lebanon. According to Raad, Aoun's paper included important points and ideas, but he said that the opposition in general, and Hizbullah in particular, was open to all formulas.
Answering a question about the March 14 bloc's description of the paper as catastrophic, Raad emphasized that it was better to keep the defensive strategy away of the daily conflicts between rival factions, saying that everyone at the dialogue roundtable would be able to present his own view "and we'll discuss all points of view at appropriate time." Raad called on all political factions to keep the topic away of daily conflicts due to its sensitiveness and in order to reach tangible results.
The head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc also said that Hizbullah was not concerned, at the time being, with presenting a specific vision since its Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has actually raised the issue during a previous dialogue prior to the July war. "The war proved that the view submitted theoretically was effective practically," Raad said, adding that it also may have generated new ideas to face the "Israeli" enemy.
Meanwhile, Raad reiterated the seriousness of the call to expand the dialogue roundtable in order to allow all political factions to be represented in the national talks. He said that all the interlocutors were dealing seriously with the issue.
The Hizbullah MP praised the reconciliations taking place at the internal scene as a means to prevent sedition, recalling of the positive effects the summit meeting between Sayyed Nasrallah and Future movement MP Saad Hariri has triggered. However, he assured, once again, that the reconciliations would not transform into political or electoral alliances, saying that the actual alliances were fixed, "and it's not the appropriate time to change them."
Raad also noted that nothing prevents him of meeting the head of the Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblatt, but, according to him, "this meeting awaits the maturity of the proper circumstances." Raad renewed readiness to meet with "all those with whom we reconciled."