Saniora, Hmedeh plan to liquidate Nasrallah: Franjieh

Source: Al-Manar, 1-9-2007
The head of the (Marada) party, former minister Suleiman Franjieh said that Hizbullah`s private phone network is an old and known issue that aims at securing the resistance. Telecommunications Minister in the unconstitutional government Marwan Hmedeh on Wednesday slammed Hizbullah for installing a private phone network, branding the move a "state violation." In an interview with the LBC television station, Franjieh accused the head of the unconstitutional government Fouad Saniora and Hmedeh of planning to assassinate Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, by raising this issue "to either isolate Sayyed Nasrallah or to liquidate him." Saniora`s government was considering severing Hizbullah`s private phone network. "We are serious about resolving this because it is a dangerous matter," Information Minister in the unconstitutional government Ghazi Aridi told reporters after a lengthy cabinet session last Monday. Aridi said the government was "determined to protect the Resistance (Hizbullah) and the symbols of the resistance from the `Israeli` enemy but the information that we gathered do not follow this logic." He did not give further details. Saniora was quoted by a source as responding to Hizbullah`s act by sarcastically saying: "All we need is (Hizbullah) to ask a musician to compose a new national anthem."
Berri - Feltman
In the interview, Franjieh said that his stances did not always intersect with those of US ambassador to Lebanon Jefferey Feltman`s, stressing that the sole problem with Washington is "this dissonance with its positions." The former minister also said that Feltman did not give a clear response to Speaker Nabih Berri`s questions to the US administration. Berri had asked whether Washington was with electing a Lebanese president based on consensus and sought a clear US position about the half-plus-one MPs formula to elect a president, as called for by the February 14 bloc. Following the meeting with Feltman Berri said talks did not focus on a specific subject. "Discussions were rather general," he added.
Feltman said his talks with the Parliament Speaker remain confidential. The U.S. Ambassador said that he reiterated to Berri Washington`s stand which adheres to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 that called for the election of a head of state "without foreign intervention" and in line with Lebanon`s constitution.
Franjieh Politics
Former minister Franjieh said that he visits Syrian President Bashar Assad on daily Basis, stressing Damascus supported the Lebanese army during its battle against the Fatah al-Islam militant group in north Lebanon. He asked why Saudi members of Fatah al-Islam were not subject to interrogation and instead put on onboard planes and flown back to their country. "Why this interest in the wives of Fatah al-Islam militants and the negligence of the widows of the martyrs?" Franjieh asked. The Marada chief and key opposition figure renewed his support to FPM leader MP General Michel Aoun as a presidential candidate and pointed that his "Christian position" enables him to face up to Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri. "Assad believes that Syria had erred with General Aoun. There are some who quarreled with Syria with honor, and General Aoun had by far suffered the most from Syria," Franjieh said adding that Syria will not be aggressive in dealing with General Aoun. On the backing of Hezbollah to Aoun`s candidacy, the former minister explained that Hezbollah did not name Aoun to avoid an international wave of accusations that the general is backed by terrorism. Franjieh described his relation with Hezbollah as one that is based on the rights of the Christians, a fair electoral law and the understanding between Aoun`s Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah. He called for establishing an understanding on the arms of the resistance while stressing he is against taking away these arms before the Lebanese Israeli conflict was over. Franjieh warned that the opposition will not acknowledge a Lebanese president elected on the basis of the half-plus-one MPs formula.