Lebanese president Lahoud not resigning
Lebanon-Syria, Politics, 2/16/2006

The Lebanese President Emil Lahoud on Wednesday stressed that he would complete his term of office, at a time some are calling for him to leave office, considering that the anti- Damascus parliamentary majority criticized him in order to "cover the crack among its lines" and held them responsible for damaging the Syrian- Lebanese relations and the internal dialogue.

In a statement issued by the press office at the Presidency, Lahoud said we did not and will not give up our commitment to the one united Lebanon to which I have my oath," and that he is committed to this oath until the last day of his constitutional term which expires November 2007.

In a harshly worded statement, Lahoud office said that "President Lahoud had never cared about threats regardless to their source and never retreat before challenges and blackmail." The statement added "President Lahoud is committed to the presidential oath until the last day of his constitutional term."

Leaders of the parliamentary majority and the parliament on Tuesday on the first anniversary of the Rafiq al-Hariri assassination gave priority for toppling Lahoud, an alley of Damascus. They strongly criticized him as "a traitor for the Syrian regime." This was expressed before a huge crowd that included more than one million persons according to the ministry of interior.

The Lebanese leader considered the accusations of the Druze leader Walid Junblat as "a violation of all democratic norms" and considered that the accusations of the Druze leaders "reached the extent of threatening of killing, within a series of lies." Lahoud loomed to the possibility of trying Junblat as he described his statement as "an open flagrant provocation" that opens the door for legal inquiries and "constitutes a direct and authentic threat, and that the specialized judiciary has in all its file new proves," in remarks to the incidents that took place in al-Chouf mountain area during the Lebanese civil war ( 1975- 1990) between the Druze and the Christians. Lahoud said "the massacres in the Druze mountain was a great evidence on Junblat's crimes with all those who go against him and surrender to his will."

Previous Stories:
  Syrian reaction to Junblat statement   (2/15/2006)
  Lebanese crowds commemorate Hariri assassination anniversary   (2/15/2006)
  Syrian labor in Lebanon needs protection   (2/15/2006)

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