BEIRUT: Hezbollah is
preventing the establishment of a Lebanese state, Lebanese Forces leader Samir
Geagea said Sudnay.
“What is disrupting the formation
of a state in Lebanon is the presence of Hezbollah as a state within a state,”
Geagea told Saudi Arabian Journalist Ahmad Adnan in a Youtube interview
published Sunday.
Hezbollah's arms and the
"method of its presence" contradict with the notion of a legitimate
state, he said.
Geagea said his criticism of the
party stems from an objection to policies seen as highly linked to foreign
alliances that contradicts with a local vision for Lebanon. “Our relationship
with Hezbollah is not based on enmity but opposition,” he added.
“All the Lebanese possess a
particular vision of the state, and this is a state based on the Taif
agreement, the constitution and the law,” he said.
“No disruptive factor can last
indefinitely,” he added in reference to Hezbollah.
The Lebanese Forces leader also
cited Hezbollah’s role in disrupting presidential elections, saying that the
party’s main backer, Iran, was behind the ten month-long presidential vacuum.
“Either a president fully
supportive of [Iran] was [elected] or no elections would be held, and this is
what happened,” he said.
The Lebanese Forces chief also
noted Iran’s expansion in the region, saying that it had adopted the rhetoric
of the Palestinian cause as a means to achieve domination in the Middle East.
Geagea said that although several
Arab capitals have been taken over by Iran, it has yet to take any measures
against Israel.
"The region cannot
accomodate this [Iranian expansion] becaues it will lead to unpredictable
repurcussions."