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Michel Aoun: An improvised political version of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

Elias Bejjani - 12/6/2006

In this editorial - part six in my Aoun series - the focus will be solely on the text of a lengthy ýaudio interview that the Lebanese MTV channel conducted with General Michel Aoun on ýOctober ýþ9þý, ýþ2002þý while he was still in exile in Paris - France. This is another lengthy text of ýþ40þý ýpages that shows without a shadow of doubt, and by this man's own words, that he has in cold ýblood buried under ýþ12þý feet all his declared national and political convictions whose banner he ýcarried for ýþ18þý years, only to back off completely on all his promises in the end. He simply ýmade a ýþ180þý degree turn without even bothering to explain himself or at least to his supporters ýthe rationale for such a drastic turnaround. ý

He is still claiming boldly to be the most popular Lebanese Christian politician, and ýaccordingly he acts in an extremely aggressive and reckless manner as he elaborates his ýnational and political choices and alliances. His demagogic attitudes, approaches and speeches ýare still appealing to many young Lebanese, especially in the Christian community, because he ýis hypocritically playing on sectarian fears while portraying himself as a secularist and the ýsavior and protector of the Christian community. This metamorphosis had the effect that many ýintellectuals among his close supporters have either left him or just backed off and are not ýinvolving themselves in political activity any longer.ý

The Lebanese people in general and the Christian community in particular had hoped for many ýyears that General Aoun's return from exile would be a very constructive push forward and a ýsolid patriotic cornerstone for reclaiming the country's confiscated sovereignty, independence, ýfreedoms and security. But to their disappointment and frustration, the man lost all focus on ýnational priorities except for his unabated drive for the presidency. Everything he does or says ýrevolves around this apparently unreachable ambition.ý

And instead of working genuinely for unity in his own Christian community after he got almost ýþ80%þý of its votes in the last parliamentary elections, he became his community's main problem ýand element of division after he backed off on his electoral platform and forged an alliance ýwith Hezbollah and all the pro-Syrian parties, officials, and militias in Lebanon. He turned into ýa Syrian mouthpiece defending the Damascus regime's conduct and atrocities, aborting all ýefforts to replace the Syrian hand-picked Lebanese President, General Emile Lahoud.ý

In his blind pursuit of the presidency, he turned against France, the US, UNIFIL, and all UN ýresolutions, and took a hostile stance against the Maronite Patriarch after his Beatitude and the ýMaronite Council of Bishops expressed their disapproval of his alliances. He continues to issue ýthreats to topple the Siniora government by force and through street demonstrations side by ýside with Hezbollah and the pro-Syrian parties.ý

On Sunday November ýþ26þý, ýþ2006þý and because Aoun was still persisting to join forces with ýHezbollah and topple the Lebanese government, His Beatitude the Maronite Patriarch ýNasrallah Sfeir urged the Lebanese Christians to close ranks although he acknowledged that ýsuch a unity is difficult to achieve, (mainly because of Aoun's stubbornness): " We are going ýthrough miserable days, but we hope they will be followed by happy days in which the ýLebanese will reunite…We mean by that the Christians who are divided," Sfeir told his visitors ýon Sunday. "It seems that their reunification has become hard," Sfeir added. He said the ýLebanese should join hands since "our leaders are being killed one after the other."ý

Because of Aoun's individualistic, selfish and uncalculated ambitions, Lebanon's Christians are ýdivided between those who support Fouad Siniora's government and those who are revolving ýaround Aoun and are calling for the toppling of the government.ý

Below are a number of selected quotes from Aoun's MTV October ýþ2002þý interview which ýshows Aoun's own description of Hezbollah's fundamentalist doctrine, weapons, ties to foreign ýcountries, power balance between Arab countries and Israel, Lebanon's borders with both ýIsrael and Syria, the big lie of the Shebaa Farms, suicide operations, reckless military ýskirmishes against Israel through Lebanon's borders, rules of negotiation, acceptance of others, ýcivil and military societies, Syria's criminal role, terrorism and the pressure it exerts on the ýPalestinians, Dhimmitude attitudes, extermination of Lebanon's Christians, inefficiency of ýLebanon's current pro-Syrian president, General Lahoud, and many other opinions and stances ýin the same context.ý

The prime objective from this illustration is to show - using Aoun's own words - the educated ýand intellectuals among his supporters, as well as within his party's members, and in particular ýthe young and university students, how the man since his return from exile last year has backed ýoff from all his political advocacy of the past ýþ18þý years and reneged on all his platforms and ýpromises. All what is required from the reader is to just compare, with an open mind and ýwithout any kind of sentiment or bias, Aoun's platforms during the exile years which they ýadmired and supported, with those after his return from exile. The Lebanese people owe it to ýthemselves and to their country to only support politicians based on platforms and not on ýemotions or blind sentimentalist fanaticism. Only sheep can be lead blindly to slaughterhouses, ýbut not the Lebanese people. ý

Below are selected excerpts from General Aoun's interview with MTV on ýþ09/04/02þý. Journalist Elie ýNakouzi conducted the interview (Below also some writer's comments)

1-General Aoun: "By the way, I remind you here that the Syrian regime had said that it came to ýLebanon to save its Christians from extermination. I want to ask this regime who, apart from ýit, in fact wanted to exterminate us?" ý

2-General Aoun: "I sure am very optimistic with the Palestinian people's victory, but not the way ýsome envisage it. Not by the extermination of Israel as Hezbollah and Bashar Al-Assad say, ýbecause this kind of policy is globally rejected".ý

3-General Aoun: "The best that Syria has offered is rejected by us. What can Syria offer us? Its ýliberal regime, freedoms, or economic system? All of these are rejected because they do not ýmatch our thinking. For the Syrian regime to be accepted by us, it has to be like us in Lebanon, ýand not vice-versa".ý

Writer's Comment: Does the General have any assurances from the Syrian Baathist regime that ýits leadership has scraped their schemes to exterminate the Lebanese Christian community, or ýat least their intellectuals and leaders who oppose their interferences and hegemony? If he ýdoes, the Lebanese people are entitled to be informed, especially that the horrible Syrian ýcrimes continue to target Lebanon's national leaders, journalists and officials one after the ýother. Needless to remind the General that he himself has accused Syria and its Lebanese ýagents to be behind three assassination attempts that targeted him personally.ý

4-General Aoun: "The Arabs have gained the experience. I noticed that whose who got the ýexperience are acting wisely at this stage. Meanwhile, there are those who don't own the ýexperience, mostly the young, are enthusiastic for war, like Hezbollah and his Excellency ýpresident Bashar Al Assad".ý

5-General Aoun: "There are rejectionist factions (in the region), Hezbollah and Syria are such ýwell-known rejectionists. They are the factions that pressure the Palestinian people and the ýPalestinian resistance in a certain direction".ý

6-General Aoun: "We can't live today according to Bin Laden's school (doctrine). We can't live ýin the East or in the West with a war slogan against Jews and Christians".ý

7-General Aoun: "Whenever the Palestinian problem get close to a solution, we feel that the ýPalestinian people are exposed to pressure from outside bidding factions striving to corner and ýembarrass the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority and make him reject the solution. They ýput him in a weak position and at times tag him with treason if he accepts the proposed ýsolutions".ý

8-General Aoun: "I am against any suicide operation (for any target) if you can bombard or ýexplode the target. In any kind of military operation the soldier should always have a good ýchance to return alive. No one (fighter, soldier) should detonate himself. As far as I am ýconcerned, this (suicide operations) is against my human and faith beliefs".ý

9-General Aoun: "We are the country that was struck by ýþ258þý booby-trapped vehicles during the ýunfolding events. The Lebanese people remember very well these cars that exploded in all (the ýLebanese) regions. We are against this kind of thinking, the thinking of annihilating the society ýbecause it does not distinguish (between military and civil societies)"ý

Writer's Comment: The General has so far not cleared the rejectionists from what he accused ýthem of doing in ýþ2002þý. Does his alliance with them simply mean that he was wrong at that ýtime, or that they have abandoned such practices? Aren't these rejectionists the General's new ýallies? How could he now sell his supporters such an alliance? Aren't they still rejectionists?ý
One wonders whether the General's new allies, especially Hezbollah, have abandoned this kind ýof thinking, or if they have succeeded in convincing the General himself to adopt their own ýdoctrines in this regard. It is worth mentioning that Hezbollah has fired tens of its missiles ýagainst civilian targets during its last war with Israel.ý

10-General Aoun: "I consider these martyrdom operations wrong because, as I previously stated, ýthey freed the Israeli military destructive power and legitimized its usage."ý

11-General Aoun: "Israel owns a mighty military and destruction power. By using the booby-ýtrapped vehicles weapon against them (the Israelis), we give Israel a free hand to use its power ýand even legitimize it".ý

12-General Aoun: "The Palestinians should know that their case can't be solved through violence. ýThey have ýþ45þý years experience of violence and mutual wars".ý

13-General Aoun: "Once engaged in negotiations, this simply means the parties recognize each ýother. One cannot, by the end of a peace process and because of not agreeing on some issues, ýturn around and again deny the existence of the other party, and accordingly make this ýexistence a questionable matter. We can't adopt an argument that advocates for Israel's ýcancellation (annihilation)". ý

Writer's Comment: Does the General have any doubt that Hezbollah, his new ally, has fully ýfreed the Israeli mighty destructive military power when its men crossed the Lebanese border ýinto Israel to kill and kidnap Israeli soldiers? The perplexing question for the General remains: ýDid Hezbollah and President Bashar Al Assad change their way of thinking, or is it the General ýwho did?ý

14-General Aoun: "I say the military escalation does not help, especially when power balance (in ýthe Middle East) is to a great extent subjected to international constraints and not to Arab ýpower in the face of Israel’s power" . ý

Writer's Comment: If this is the situation, how could the General justify his adaptation for ýHezbollah's latest “divine victory?”ý

15-General Aoun: "In Lebanon there was a UN Resolution (ýþ452þý), meanwhile the resistance ýý(Hezbollah) has prolonged the time of occupation (for South Lebanon). There was a proposal ýfrom Israel in ýþ1994þý. Would the Lebanese government tell us why at that time it withdrew from ýthe negotiations when the Israeli proposal for withdrawal (from South Lebanon) was ýsubmitted".ý

Writer's Comment: If actually Hezbollah did not liberate the South and instead it prolonged its ýIsraeli occupation, how does the general instruct his followers to share with Hezbollah and ýHezbollah supporters all over the world their annual festivities of the so-called liberation?ý

16-General Aoun: "Lebanon's frontiers were originally never closed. All Lebanon is open (not ýguarded). Where are the closed frontiers? They are neither closed with Syria nor with Israel. ýThe Lebanese state does not exist on the frontiers. These frontiers are open and every night ýskirmishes take place. I am with closing the frontiers and not with abandoning responsibilities. ýBut what is happening today? All are washing their hands from all responsibilities".ý

Writer's Comment: Are these frontiers closed now to make the General refuse the deployment ýof UNIFIL forces on the Lebanese Israeli borders, and to oppose putting UNIFIL under the ýUN’s chapter seven?ý

17-General Aoun: "The Shebaa Farms is a big lie; I am fully responsible for what I am saying. We ýcan't adjust the map in accordance to our mood. Shebaa Farms are not Lebanese. Even if they ýwere, this land was confiscated by Syria since a long time and Lebanon has been silent about it. ýThe Lebanese government did not state once that it has an occupied land subjected to UN ýresolution ýþ242þý ". ý

18-General Aoun: "Let them leave the Shebaa story which is originally a fabricated one, they want ýto keep the borders open. Let us assume for the sake of argument that the Shebaa Farms is ýLebanese, and that we have the right to fight for it, and that we don't want to implement the ýUN Resolution. But what about the Golan Heights? Why doesn’t our sisterly neighboring Syria ýopen its front (with Israel) at a time when it made of itself a trustee over Lebanon?" ý

Writer's Comment: Based on the General's own words, how could he and his parliamentary ýbloc members allege that Hezbollah's weapons are a result of the occupation of Shebaa, and not ýthe cause for Lebanon's current problems? And how could he support a lie and tie the fate of ýHezbollah's disarmament with the fate of the armed Palestinian militias in Lebanon and the ýerection of a strong, fair and resistant Lebanese state? One wonders how could a strong ýLebanese state be erected when Hezbollah has its own Iranian-Syrian militant state inside the ýstate and uses force to deny any Lebanese efforts to rectify peacefully this bizarre imposed ýstatus.ý

19-General Aoun: "Emile Lahoud, as he says, is not qualified to be president of the Republic or to ýhead the Arabic summit conference".ý

20-General Aoun: "Didn't you hear the speeches threatening us with a civil war in case we call for ýa Syrian withdrawal (from Lebanon). Hezbollah is the one that threatened and who else has ýweapons. Hezbollah said we want to erect another Kosovo (in Lebanon) and it intents to ýconfront this matter. Hezbollah said that they are on the front at the border to defend Syria. ýThis is exactly what Al Syassa Kuwaiti newspaper quoted Sayed Hassan Nasrallah as saying. It ýseems that he was threatening us with a civil war if we called for a Syrian withdrawal".ý

Writer's Comment: Isn’t Nasrallah now resorting to the same kind of speeches and threats? ýAnd is it not true too that the General is now on Nasrallah's side? And aren’t both Aoun and ýNasrallah threatening the Lebanese people with a civil war if the Siniora government does not ýgive them the power to run the country?ý

21-General Aoun: "We have the independence pact, as well as the foundations of the country. ýNone of them could build on any contracts Hezbollah forges with foreign countries. The ýcountry's foundations are sovereignty, independence and the unity of both the people and ýland".ý

22-General Aoun: "What is the military value of the Syrian Army in the power balance in case a ýwar erupts with Israel? Do you really believe peace and tranquility in the East are sustained by ýpower balance? What actually preserved tranquility up till now is the international will. ýMilitary skirmishes (on the borders with Israel) occurring these days could lead to the freeing ýof these constraints. We live these days a very delicate situation because if Hezbollah and Syria ýare serious in their escalation and not merely theoretical, then the possibility of the plight of ýwar is serious".ý

Writer's Comment: Here the General has a great deal of explaining to do in regards to his ýgroundless and non-military support for Hezbollah's last devastating war against Israel. ýHezbollah did or did not free the destructive Israeli mighty military power when it kidnapped ýthe Israeli solders from inside the Israeli borders? Meanwhile and based on his own words in ýþ2002þý how could he declare Hezbollah victorious in the last war? Isn’t the General ýcontradicting himself between ýþ2002þý and ýþ2006þý? In ýþ2002þý, he said that Hezbollah’s skirmishes ýwith the Israelis could lead to war. Now he says that the July War was a war that the US had ýbeen preparing for regardless of what Hezbollah does or does not do in the south?ý

23-General Aoun: "Hezbollah can not forge partnerships (with foreign countries) and then tie all ýthe country (Lebanon) to its opinion. Such partnerships are unacceptable. I refuse both ýreligious and political Dhimmitude. These days we live a state of political Dhimmitude in ýLebanon". ý

Writer's Comment: The General, for the sake of credibility, ought to inform at least his party ýmembers and supporters if Hezbollah has severed its financial, military, strategic, and ýideological ties with Syria and Iran? He should also tell them if he approves today of political ýDhimmitude? [A “Dhimmi” is a second-class non-Moslem citizen in a State ruled by ýMoslems].ý
ý"Did the General renege on his own words when he signed the so-called "Paper of ýUnderstanding" with Hezbollah while its leadership openly and daily declares that they are ýallies with Syria and Iran? Didn't Hezbollah’s General Secretary loudly say over and over that ýif and when Syria is forced to withdraw from Lebanon, we [Hezbollah] will be its own army? ýDoes the General recall to whom Sheik Hassan Nasrallah bestowed the recent so-called divine ývictory? It was for Syria and Iran. He should remember that because his delegation was in the ýfront seats during that huge victory celebration.ý

24-General Aoun: "No one is armed except the state's parties: the Syrian National Social Party, the ýBaath Party and Hezbollah. These are the supporters of the authority. All of this is used under ýthe resistance tag. They keep the weapons in a bid to threaten others with killing and a civil ýwar. We do not fear killing, but if violence is forced on us we will defend ourselves".ý

Writer's comment: "Aren't these same armed parties the General's new allies today on the ýground in Beirut? Aren't he and them threatening the rest of the Lebanese with massive ýdemonstrations and aren't they threatening the Siniora Government to resign or otherwise?".ý

25-General Aoun: "It is impossible to tag those who want to go to the West Bank for help as ýagents. What is this complex? Are all the Palestinians there Israeli agents. This same complex ýwas practiced in South Lebanon when its citizens were dealt with as agents and put in jails". ý

Writer's Comment: "It would be great if the General tells our people that his current ally ýHezbollah was the authority that tagged and still tags the South Lebanese Army members, their ýfamilies and many other security zone citizens as Israeli agents".ý

26-General Aoun: "And this subject, the dialogue I have put it forward for others and in particular ýfor Hezbollah. That was through our youth who were engaged in a dialogue with Hezbollah ýbetween ýþ1993þý and ýþ1994þý. These youth visited me at that time in France (Haute Maison) and ýasked for my opinion. I requested that they put forward this same question for Hezbollah: "If ýwe reach the national borders (Israeli-Lebanese borders) tomorrow by one way or another, ýdoes the role of the rifle end there and the Lebanese state is erected, or we will keep holding to ýthe rifle for other things? The Hezbollah response was:" the matter will be left for an ýassessment of the situation at that time". This simply means and in a very diplomatic way that ýthey don't want to give up the rifle".ý

Writer's Comment: The irony here is that the General has kept a blind eye on his own theory ýand prediction when signing the so-called "Paper of Understanding" with Hezbollah, which ýsubsequently linked its weapons to the “Sacred, honor, dignity, defense strategy, a strong, fair ýand resistant State and until a time when Israel would not be able to fly a kite over Lebanon”. ýDoes the General recall who ignited the last war?ý

27-General Aoun: "I know that Lebanon will not be divided. It will return again a country for all ýof its people, even in the presence of supporters for Syria whose role in the end will cease to ýexist because they can't stand against nature on the account of the country and its foundations. ýBut if one does not believe in a sovereign, free and independent Lebanon, then everything is ýfinished".ý

Writer's Comment: "What is funny here is that the General himself, and after his return from ýexile, has aggressively and enthusiastically joined the Syrian supporters through his alliance ýwith Hezbollah, General Lahoud and the rest of Syria's agents in Lebanon, including the pro-ýSyrian Baath Party...One wonders if the General's perception of what is ‘nature’ and ‘the ýfoundations of the country’ has been revolutionized, Syrianized, and baathized?".ý

28-General Aoun: "Up till today I notice that the Lebanese Forces Party and the "Qornet ýChehwan" (political Christian coalition) are very persistent in their support of the "Taef ýAccord" as if it is another bible, while in fact it is a ploy that they were dragged in. Some do ýnot know how to get out because they refuse to admit they were cheated and that their choice ýwas wrong".ý

Writer's comment: “It is no secret that the General has revolutionized his position on the "Taef ýAccord" and became, like those ploy victims, one of its major supporters. He even scolded ýsome of his prime supporters when publicly they reiterated his original "Taef" opposition ýstance. Is his new choice righteous in his own eyes? And if so, how could he in ýþ2002þý say that ýthe accord was a ploy? I believe he owes our own people a great deal of explanation.”ý

29-General Aoun: "We start from the southern region. If it does not return back to the (state's) ýlegitimate authority, to the jurisdiction of the law and to the legitimate Lebanese armed forces, ýthen we can't consider it liberated, but still under the control of a militia and that it has been ýtransferred from two occupations to one.ý

30-Writer's comment: "It is worth noting that when the General signed his " Paper of ýUnderstanding" with Hezbollah, this armed militia was still in full control of the southern ýregion (now it is under the control of the UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army), and at that time too ýthere was no existence there whatsoever for the state's authority, jurisdiction of law, or ýLebanon's legitimate armed forces. This same militia is the one that still holds tight to its ýþ40,000þý missiles and to its destructive arsenal, refusing to disarm with the full support of the ýGeneral. This is the same militia with which the General has forged with not a mere ýý“understanding” as both parties allege, but a full alliance accord".ý

31-General Aoun: "The issue is not that of an ally, I am America's ally. I went there (to the USA) ýto call for Lebanon's independence. We do not forget that America is the sole mighty country ýand its policies affect the whole world whether we like it or not. America has a power formula. ýIf one can make this formula to his advantage he will be able to save his country. Although ýAmerica and Israel had hurt me the most in the world, I can't ignore America' power and ýinfluence in the world. We should understand that a mistake was committed against Lebanon ýwho fell a victim for terrorism. The mistake should be rectified. I showed them (the USA) the ýassassination and explosion schedule that Lebanon had been exposed to. I told them, I did not ýwant to accuse anybody, but requested they ask their Intelligence. I asked them not make ýparties accountable because these parties have ties with regimes. The organizations that you ýconsider terrorists are tied to regimes. These organizations should be disarmed and the regimes ýrendered democratic and to help in developing the poor people".ý

Writer's comment: The General instead of working hard to disarm these organizations, and in ýparticular Hezbollah, has forged an alliance with them and has become a guardian angel for ýtheir weapons.ý

32-General Aoun: "Not at all, attacking Hezbollah is not requested. Our call for Hezbollah has ýalways been a peaceful one. We told Hezbollah's leadership, ‘Your liberation role has finished ýand you should not be a tool in the hands of others. Come and play your political role’. It is ýtrue that I reject many of their ideas, because they have somewhat strange ideas as far as our ýsociety is concerned. These ideas do not comply with our society nor with Lebanon's ýtraditional mission. But they are a part of the Lebanese society. I call on them not to be an ýoutside (foreign) dimension n Lebanon, but a Lebanese dimension abroad. It does not bother ýme whether their religious loyalty is in Qom or in Iraq. This a religious authority with whom ýwe have no relations. But what is rejected, is the turning of any Muslim or Christian faction ýinto a dimension in Lebanon for the outside (foreign countries).ý

Writer's Comment: Hezbollah's ideas are still the same and even more crystal clear. ýMeanwhile, Hezbollah is not only an internal dimension for outside powers, but in fact an ýIranian-Syria armed militia in Lebanon. Its leadership is not hiding this fact, can the General do ýotherwise?ý

þ10/04/02þý: Below are Excerpts from the Aoun MTV interview, the subject of our editorial, as published in ýthe As-Safir Lebanese Arabic-language daily one day after its airing.ý

("Aoun: The Shebaa Farms are not Lebanese and the Resistance (Hezbollah) has prolonged the ýOccupation.ý

General Michel Aoun appeared live yesterday from Paris and presented his views and positions ýregarding the developments in the region. Aoun described the martyrdom missions executed by ýthe Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation as "suicide missions" and not "missions ýof martyrdom". He added that such operations "reveal an uncivilized conduct," and that the use ýof booby-trapped vehicles against Israel is an act of terrorism.
ý
Aoun, in a televised interview with MTV, fiercely attacked Hezbollah and Syria and accused ýthem of nurturing the rejectionist discourse of the Palestinians. He also accused them of ýwanting to annihilate the Israelis, and of prodding the Palestinians to destroy a whole ýpopulation. Aoun criticized the military operations undertaken by the resistance (Hezbollah) in ýthe Shebaa Farms stating that "the Farms issue is a lie: the Shebaa Farms are not Lebanese; let ýSyria give us an official document that these Farms are Lebanese then we will work at ýliberating them."ý

Aoun described Hezbollah's and Syria's position regarding the developments in occupied ýPalestine as "an extremist position stemming from either political recklessness or collusion ýwith Israel." Aoun criticized “the rejectionist discourse that rejects even the human Israeli ýexistence, such as the Hezbollah discourse that considers the killing of anyone in the Israeli ýsociety as ´fair game', and the discourse of President Bashar Assad that is identical to ýHezbollah's and proclaims that ´there are no civilians in Israeli society'.

Aoun added: "We ýreject this kind of discourse. We reject such policy of extermination. Such things are ýcontradictory to any human or civilized conduct. They are calling for the destruction of a ýwhole people through terrorist means, and this is unacceptable. The use of such means released ýthe destructive military power of Israel and legitimized it."ý

He also stated that the military victory of Israel "will not eliminate the Palestinian State nor the ýrights of the Palestinian people. However, those goals cannot be reached by the extermination ýof Israelis and wiping out Israel, as Hezbollah and Bashar Assad want." And regarding the ýresistance (Hezbollah) that liberated the South from Israeli occupation, Aoun said: "The ýresistance prolonged the occupation. There was an Israeli proposal of withdrawal in ýþ1994þý. ýWhy did Lebanon withdraw from the negotiation process? Lebanon attached itself to the ýSyrian tractor and dissolved its own political and diplomatic identity… the resistance ýprolonged the occupation and damaged Lebanon economically". He called for the "disarming ýof Hezbollah that keeps threatening us with civil war."ý

Aoun attacked Syria fiercely and said: "Is it allowable for Syria to kill in the name of ýbrotherhood? Is it allowable for Syria to occupy Baabda (Presidential Palace) in the name of ýbrotherhood? Why did it greet me with hostility from my first day as head of the interim ýgovernment?"ý

Aoun described the Lebanese constitutional institutions as "farms" (in a veiled reference to the ýShebaa Farms) and said: "The Baabda farm (Presidential Palace) needs to be liberated, so does ýthe Qoraytem (Prime Minister’s Office) and the Nejmeh Square (Parliament) farms. There is ýno free decision in any of these places."ý

On the future of the region, Aoun said: “Peace in the Middle East is a civilization condition ýthat must evolve against the politics of violence. It rests on the acceptance of the "other", the ýright to be different, and the democratization of the political systems. It is impossible to build a ýnew Middle East with a war mentality. Competition through development and pluralism, which ýarises from the acceptance of those who are different, the plurality of races, genders, and ýorigins, and the freedom of creed, is consistent with the stipulations of the Charter of Human ýRights. ý

I do not trust States that engage themselves in the path of peace and try to develop their ýsystems, but that do not recognize the right of freedom of creed, which by the way is not ýlimited to religion, but also includes political and all other forms of freedoms. There are ýunderdeveloped autocratic and theocratic states that are anachronisms and are incompatible ýwith the times in which we live. The Bin Laden School is such a belief system and it cannot ýsurvive. The slogan of war on Christians and Jews is an aberration that cannot survive, neither ýin the East nor in the West. Lebanon is the only oasis for the reconciliation of cultures because ýof its Moslems and Christians who have lived the experience and found it to be viable. Aoun ýsaid his return to Lebanon is tied to "changes on the ground" he expects to happen soon and ýwhich are linked to regional developments.")