Geagea slams Hezbollah, praises 'Arab Spring'

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea accused Hezbollah and its allies in the March 8 coalition of crippling the state and said popular protests in the region would continue to strive for democratic change. “Hezbollah is a state within a state as it has both a military and political wing and therefore we cannot have an effective state as long as we have a state within a state,” Geagea said, according to an LF statement. “What’s worse is that this party has the decision over war and peace in Lebanon which paralyses legitimate [state] institutions, particularly after Hezbollah and its allies took control of this government which has led to a deterioration of the country at the economic and security levels,” he added. Geagea’s comments came following a meeting with students of Lebanese descent from North America as part of the “Back to roots” program. He told the delegation of students that following the 1975-90 Civil War, Hezbollah alone violated the Taif Accord – the agreement that ended the 15-year conflict. “After all the parties handed over their weapons to the Lebanese state after the end of the Civil War in 1990, Hezbollah alone retained its weapons as a result of Syrian influence so that it could remain a strategic tool in the political service of Iran and Syria in the region,” he said. The LF leader vowed that should the March 14 coalition win the majority in the upcoming parliamentary elections, the grouping would occupy all the seats in the government “because this is the real and effective democratic game.” Turning to the “Arab Spring,” Geagea described the popular revolts in Arab countries as historic. “These revolution stem from the people against dictatorial regimes and any regime that follows will be better than their predecessors,” he said. “Democracy and freedom have left their prison cells and won’t return and therefore these countries will be go through difficult periods in order to reach full democracy,” he said.