BEYOND THE DROPZONE

Gen. Sleiman Elected President of Lebanon

Posted by W. Thomas Smith Jr. on 25 May 2008 at 4:05 pm UTC

I discussed the presidential election of Gen. Michel Sleiman in my previous post.

Following are a few quick highlights from his inauguration address delivered an hour or so ago (translated from one of our sources):

1) “We will respect the UN Security Council Resolution [regarding the pressing forward with the investigation into the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri].”

2) “The resistance movement [Hezbolla] was necessary and has done a lot for Lebanon: liberated the south, Shebaa farms still occupied by Israel, therefore it is necessary to build a strategy around the resistance and work with them … ”

3) “The Lebanese prisoners in Israel must be released [no mention of Lebanese prisoners in Syria] …”

4) “We need to work with Syria, and we need to establish diplomatic relations …”

5) “We need to protect Lebanon and we need to keep our weapons [a vague suggestion that Hezbollah should keep its weapons]. Those weapons shall be used only against the enemies [of Lebanon] … And we won’t let those weapons be used for any other purpose …”

Yeah, right.

Apparently, there was no mention of disarming Hezbollah as called for under UN Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1701: No expressed commitment to reigning in Hezbollah. Just an expression of what Pres. Sleiman sees as a justification for the continued existance of Hezbollah despite the terror Hezbollah unleashed on the state this month.

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