Geagea Says ‘Tomorrow is Another Day,’ Won’t Hesitate to Shake Hands with Aoun, Franjieh
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has unveiled that he won’t hesitate in shaking hands with his foes Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and Marada chief Suleiman Franjieh during the meeting of the country’s top Christian officials in Bkirki on Tuesday.
“Tuesday is another day. I will leave everything behind,” Geagea said in an interview with al-Joumhouria newspaper published Monday about his bickering with Aoun and Franjieh.
The LF chief said that despite differences with the two men, he agreed with them on several issues. “I will seek to overcome the points of contention.”
Geagea told the daily that he would shake hands with Franjieh and all those present at the meeting. “I am not embarrassed by any handshake because a person who takes a decision to attend such a meeting to open a new page should behave that way.”
“I consider myself that I shook hands with Gen. Aoun and MP Franjieh even before the Bkirki meeting,” he said.
On whether he believed that the FPM chief and Marada leader had good intentions, he said: “Their agreement to (attend) the meeting confirms that they have good intentions.”
Geagea expressed hope that his foes would “consolidate these intentions and go all the way to opening a new white page.”
When asked about the cabinet formation process, Geagea accused the March 8 forces of refusing to build the state amid state building efforts by President Michel Suleiman and Premier-designate Najib Miqati.
He said Hizbullah sees the cabinet only as an instrument to achieve its objectives.
On the latest March 14 activities, the LF leader said: “There are continued meetings between the officials and all the components of March 14 but most of them are unannounced for known security reasons.”
He added that the political program announced by the coalition on February 14 and March 13 remains in place but with a pace that changes in accordance with the different circumstances and developments.
Later on Monday, Geagea condemned before reporters in Maarab the campaign launched against the Mustaqbal movement and its MP Jamal al-Jarrah by Syria, which is accusing them of meddling in its internal affairs and supporting the anti-regime protests.
He said: “Ties between countries are bound by laws and if there were a serious case against Jarrah, then the Syrian judiciary would have sent it to the Lebanese Embassy in Syria, which would have then sent it to the Syrian Embassy in Lebanon that would in turn have sent to Lebanese Foreign Ministry that would hand it to the Justice Ministry.”
He added that the general prosecution and concerned sides are currently examining the case.
Furthermore, he attributed Syria’s campaign to its disappointment with the Mustaqbal movement’s recent positions that may be “harming Syria’s allies in Lebanon and Hizbullah’s arms.”