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In Beirut, large rally against Hezbollah

By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press Writer Sun Sep 24, 2:15 PM ET

BEIRUT, Lebanon - An anti-Syrian Christian leader dismissed Hezbollah's claims of victory in its war with
Israel as tens of thousands of his supporters rallied Sunday in a show of strength that highlighted Lebanon's sharp divisions.

The rally north of Beirut came just two days after a massive gathering by the rival Shiite Muslim Hezbollah that attracted hundreds of thousands. The two sides have been at sharp odds over the future of the Lebanese government since this summer's Israeli-Hezbollah war.

Samir Geagea, a notorious former leader of a Christian militia, scoffed at Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah's declaration that his guerrillas achieved "a victory" against Israel.

"I don't feel victory because the majority of the Lebanese people do not feel victory. Rather, they feel that a major catastrophe had befallen them and made their present and future uncertain," he said.

Hezbollah's fight with Israel sent its support soaring among Shiites. But a large sector — particularly among Christians and Sunni Muslims — opposes Hezbollah and resents it for provoking the monthlong fight by capturing two Israeli soldiers on July 12.

The war killed hundreds of Lebanese civilians and left part of the country's infrastructure in ruins, causing billions of dollars in damage to the economy.

Geagea, who served more than a decade in prison on multiple counts of murder dating to the 1975-90 civil war, backs the Western-leaning government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. His party is a member of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority in Lebanon.

Geagea's supporters, waving his pictures and the white, red and green flag of his Lebanese Forces Party, arrived in buses and cars at the shrine of the Virgin Mary in the town of Harissa, about 15 miles north of Beirut.

Addressing his supporters after a mass to commemorate Christian militiamen killed in the civil war, Geagea rejected Nasrallah's vow to keep his weapons, saying the guerrilla group was blocking the establishment of "a strong and capable (Lebanese) state" for which Nasrallah was calling.

"When we find a solution to (the issue of Hezbollah's) weapons, then it will be possible to establish the state as it should be," he said.

Geagea, who backs Hezbollah's disarmament, implicitly accused the Iranian- and Syrian-backed group of running "a state within a state" in south Lebanon.

"How can a state be established while there is a mini-state (within its borders)? How can this state be established while every day arms and ammunitions are smuggled (to Hezbollah) under its (the state's) nose?" he said.

Nasrallah vowed at a massive rally Friday in Beirut's southern suburbs not to disarm despite international pressure. Some 800,000 Hezbollah supporters cheered Nasrallah at the gathering to celebrate what Hezbollah called "a divine victory" against Israel in the 34-day war that ended on Aug. 14.

In his speech, Nasrallah also called for the formation of a new government, repeatedly attacking Saniora's administration, which he called weak and unable to protect Lebanon from Israel.

Hezbollah's push for a stronger political role could deepen tensions in a country already sharply divided over the war.

Geagea rejected Nasrallah's call for a new government, defending Saniora's administration. Despite "some loopholes and defects," it is for the first time "a Lebanese, sovereign and independent one," he said.

Syria dominated Lebanon for nearly three decades before it withdrew its troops last year under heavy international pressure following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Syria is accused of involvement in Hariri's death, which it denies.

Geagea was arrested in April 1994 and his group was banned after a church bombing killed 10 people. He was later acquitted in the bombing but sentenced to three life terms on several other murder counts, including the killing of pro-Syrian Prime Minister Rashid Karami.

Geagea served 11 years in prison before he was released in July 2005, when Lebanon's parliament approved a motion to pardon him.

He was leader of the Lebanese Forces — the country's most powerful Christian militia during the Lebanese civil war. Israel backed the militia during that conflict and the Israeli invasion in 1982 to expel Palestinian guerrillas.

Large anti-Hezbollah Rally held in Beirut (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060924/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_christians_1;_ylt=As6CMP9k7lcYvWvqNNh8FyIUvioA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl)

Anti-Syrian Christian chief scoffs at Hezbollah 'victory' claim

by Sylvie Briand Sun Sep 24, 12:11 PM ET

HARISSA, Lebanon (AFP) - Anti-Syrian Christian leader Samir Geagea scoffed at Hezbollah claims of victory in its conflict with Israel and avowals that it wanted a strong state in Lebanon.

"We are the victors, and yet we do not feel it was victory but rather that a real catastrophe befell our country, and that our fate and destiny are at the mercy of the winds," the Lebanese Forces (LF) leader and member of the "March 14" political group told a rally attended by tens of thousands.

Crowds flocked to a hilltop Maronite cathedral in Harissa north of Beirut, site of a giant statue of the Virgin Mary, for a mass and to hear Geagea's speech at the rally staged as a memorial for "martyrs" of his party killed during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

The first rally by the anti-Syrian camp on Lebanon's divided political scene since the devastating conflict with Israel attracted tens of thousands of supporters, an AFP correspondent estimated Sunday.

It came two days after the Syrian-backed Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah held a demonstration attended by hundreds of thousands in Beirut to celebrate "victory" in the July-August war with Israel.

"We have to show Hezbollah that we exist too, that they can't just impose their wars on us," said Elie Asma, 21, who climbed the steep hill to Harissa for the annual memorial.

With their white LF flags bearing the cedar tree symbol of Lebanon and their shirts stamped with the cross of the right-group party, young supporters chanted slogans against both Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah and the Shiite movement's Christian ally, General Michel Aoun.

"We are the victors because it was us who were demanding the (Lebanese) army's deployment (in south Lebanon), backed by UNIFIL (peacekeepers), while they were opposed," said Geagea, without naming Hezbollah.

The March 14 group, which includes parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, a Sunni Muslim, and Druze chief Walid Jumblatt, criticised Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers on July 12 that sparked the conflict.

It has called for the group to disarm, in keeping with UN demands.

"They demand a strong state, but how can a strong state be built with a statelet within its midst? How can it be done with arms and ammunition continuing to flow in, when they force the state to follow their own schedule?" asked Geagea.

"We say to them that once we find a solution to the arms, it will be possible to build a strong state," he said, remaining calm throughout his speech.

"Those tears expressed the exact feelings of the people," he said, referring to Nasrallah's criticism of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora who wept openly during an Arab League conference held in Beirut during the war.

It was "out of the question to speak of victory", after more than 1,200 people were killed in Lebanon alone, overwhelmingly civilians, and billions of dollars in damage were inflicted on the country, he said.

Geagea, 53, a former head of the LF militia which was disbanded after the civil war, became the only ex-warlord to stand trial for crimes committed during the conflict. He was sentenced to several life sentences for murder and attempted murder.

He spent 11 years in solitary confinement before the rise of the anti-Syrian camp after the February 2005 assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri and the subsequent pullout of Syrian troops whose country was widely accused of the murder.

Geagea was freed under an amnesty law passed by parliament in July 2005.

Lebanon's Christian camp is itself divided, with rival Aoun having forged an alliance with Hezbollah although he fought an abortive "war of liberation" against Syrian forces at the tail-end of the 15-year civil conflict.

Anti-Syrian Christian chief scoffs at Hezbollah 'victory' claim (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060924/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonpoliticschristians_060924161123;_ylt=Ar.gjRCRXkrKiz27JOBhgkcUvioA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl)

Lebanese Christian leader raps Hizbollah

Sun Sep 24, 12:51 PM ET

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Lebanese Christian leader said on Sunday Hizbollah's war with Israel was a disaster for Lebanon and rapped the Shi'ite Muslim group for rejecting calls to lay down its arms.

Deep rifts along sectarian and political lines have re-emerged in Lebanon after the devastating 34-day war ended on August 14.

Hizbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said at a large rally in Beirut on Friday that the war was a "divine victory" for Lebanon.

He rejected international demands that his guerrillas disarm and called for changing the Lebanese government, which is currently made up of mainly anti-Syrian, U.S.-backed parties.

"We don't feel (there was a) victory because the majority of the Lebanese people doesn't feel victory," Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces militia-turned-political party, said at a rally attended by thousands of supporters north of Beirut.

"The majority of the Lebanese people feel that a major catastrophe has befallen them, throwing their present and future up in the air," he said.

Israel and Hizbollah have both declared themselves victors in the war which killed nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mainly soldiers.

SURRENDER WEAPONS

Christians make up around 35 percent of Lebanon's population of 4 million people, Shi'ite Muslims 35 percent and Sunni Muslims 25 percent.

Geagea is a Maronite Christian and a member of a mainly Sunni Muslim, Druze and Christian political coalition which hold a majority in parliament and the cabinet.

He said a strong state could only emerge after Hizbollah surrenders its weapons.

"Betting on maintaining weapons through force is a wrong bet. ... No weapons will make us surrender to this de facto reality," he said referring to Hizbollah keeping it arms.

Thousands of U.N. peacekeepers and Lebanese army troops are deploying in south Lebanon, gradually replacing Israeli troops who had seized parts of the border area. The last Israeli soldier is expected to leave Lebanon by the end of the month.

Geagea led the Lebanese Forces, the main Christian militia at the time, during the later years of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. His anti-Syrian group surrendered its weapons at the end of the war but Geagea was jailed in 1994 for crimes during it.

He was released last year, a few weeks after Syria ended its 29-year military presence in Lebanon in the wake of the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Lebanese Christian leader raps Hizbollah  (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060924/wl_nm/lebanon_christian_dc_2;_ylt=Au_T4o7jGOfLFvaoMmIdLUQUvioA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl)