Latest news with #LebaneseForces
Nahar Net
4 days ago
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Geagea says Hezbollah's Qassem seems to be 'on another planet'
by Naharnet Newsdesk 29 May 2025, 14:36 Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem seems "as if he's on another planet" to Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea who criticized Qassem's "unrealistic" statements, in an interview with LBCI on Wednesday night. Geagea said foreign countries will not help Lebanon or deal with the Lebanese state as long as Hezbollah is keeping its "illegal" arms. "There will be no reconstruction, no financial rescue — all of that is now suspended, frozen, and paralyzed, until Hezbollah disarms. No one will want to deal with the state in such a situation." Geagea praised Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's stance on Hezbollah's arms but urged President Joseph Aoun to set a deadline for the disarmament of the group. "Salam's stances are very clear but Aoun's dialogue can not be indefinitely open. A timeframe is needed, decisive decisions are needed, although no one wants conflict," he said. Aoun and Hezbollah have been exchanging messages and the president met with a delegation from Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc on Monday. Aoun has long stressed that disarming Hezbollah should happen through a calm dialogue warning against the use of force or dealing hastily with the matter. Hezbollah's leader said the group will not discuss giving up its remaining weapons until Israel withdraws from the five border points it occupies in southern Lebanon and stops its airstrikes. "We have completely adhered" to the ceasefire agreement, Qassem said, adding: "Don't ask us for anything else from now on. Let Israel withdraw, stop its aggression, release the prisoners and fulfill all obligations under the agreement. After that, we will discuss each new development." Geagea responded that Hezbollah has no right to impose conditions and sarcastically added that the group failed to liberate Lebanese land through the use of force. "Can Hezbollah make Israel withdraw by force? Than why hasn't it done that?" Hezbollah was left badly weakened by more than a year of hostilities with Israel, beginning with the group's campaign of rocket fire at its arch-foe in support of Gaza, and culminating in a major Israeli bombing campaign and ground incursion into Lebanon. "We need to implement the ceasefire deal. A Peace treaty with Israel is not our priority now," Geagea said, amid talks about a possible normalization of ties with Israel. Israel's ambassador to the U.S. had said earlier this month that Syria and Lebanon could join the Abraham Accords and normalize relations with Israel even before Saudi Arabia. "I am very optimistic about the potential of an Abraham Accord with Syria and Lebanon," Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said.
LBCI
7 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Bassil says the FPM remains a major political force
Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader MP Gebran Bassil said municipal union elections are not solely about local development but are increasingly taking on a political dimension. He pointed to the FPM's recent victory in the Matn municipal union as the opening chapter in a broader electoral push. Turning to the southern district of Jezzine, Bassil remarked, "Watch with us how the Jezzine chapter will end. The Lebanese Forces claim they lost the city but won the union, while I say we won most of Jezzine's municipalities, and the union result will speak for itself." Bassil reaffirmed his party's commitment to supporting municipalities at both the local and national levels, highlighting two main priorities: the Syrian refugee issue and expanded administrative decentralization. He dismissed suggestions of his party's decline, asserting, "The FPM remains a major political force. Claims of its end are baseless. We are significantly stronger in these municipal elections compared to 2016." Bassil concluded by emphasizing that the FPM had once again demonstrated its presence and strength in Jezzine and South Lebanon whether through municipal councils or local mukhtars.
MTV Lebanon
24-05-2025
- MTV Lebanon
Syria Hands Over Mastermind Behind Pascal Sleiman's Murder to Lebanon
Following contacts made by Lebanese Forces officials with the Syrian authorities, and further coordination by Lebanon's Intelligence Directorate with the Syrian government, the latter handed over Ahmad Noun to the Lebanese authorities. Ahmad Noun is the leader of the gang that kidnapped and killed Lebanese Forces official Pascal Sleiman last year. With Noun's handover, alongside the four detainees, all the elements needed to uncover the truth in Sleiman's assassination case are now complete.
Arab News
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Lebanon army says receives suspect in Christian party official's killing
Pascal Sleiman of the Lebanese Forces Christian party was abducted and killed in April 2024The army had said he was killed in a carjacking by Syrian gang membersBEIRUT: Lebanon's army said Saturday it had taken into custody a suspect in last year's killing of a Christian political official, with help from Syria's new authorities, in a case that sparked public Sleiman, a coordinator in the Byblos (Jbeil) area north of Beirut for the Lebanese Forces (LF) Christian party, was abducted and killed in April army had said he was killed in a carjacking by Syrian gang members who then took his body across the army received 'one of the main individuals involved in the crime of kidnapping and killing' Sleiman after coordinating with Syrian authorities, a military statement suspect 'heads a gang involved in kidnapping, robbery and forgery and has a large number of arrest warrants against him,' the statement said, adding that investigations were LF party opposed Syria's longtime ruler Bashar Assad, who was ousted in December, as well as its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, which last year was engaged in cross-border fire with Israel that escalated into all-out and Damascus have been seeking to improve ties since the overthrow of Assad, whose family dynasty for decades exercised control over Lebanese sentiment soared after Sleiman's disappearance and death, in a country hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrian accused Hezbollah of having a hand in the killing, but then chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was later killed in a massive Israeli air strike, denied his party was LF had said it would consider Sleiman's death a 'political assassination until proven otherwise.'
MTV Lebanon
22-05-2025
- Politics
- MTV Lebanon
Geagea: Abbas's Statements Undermine the Resistance Axis's Justifications for Illegal Arms
Head of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea issued the following statement: Palestinian President Mahmoud is the first Arab head of state to visit Lebanon under the new presidency. This is not surprising, as he has always carried Lebanon in his heart and has taken bold steps toward establishing sound and proper Lebanese-Palestinian relations. What also stands out on this visit is President Abbas's crystal-clear position on the issue of Palestinian arms in Lebanon. He reaffirmed, as he has done repeatedly, that there is no need for any Palestinian weapons to exist in Lebanon, whether inside or outside the camps. Unfortunately, many Lebanese officials have refrained from expressing this stance with such clarity and frankness. President Abbas's consistent statements highlighting the need for all Palestinians to respect Lebanese sovereignty and the laws of the Lebanese state, and that no military action should be conducted from Lebanon except by the Lebanese Army, have refuted the excuses long used by the axis of resistance, both Lebanese and Palestinian, to justify the continued possession of illegal weapons for internal Lebanese, Palestinian, or regional agendas that are no longer hidden from anyone. Based on these firm and explicit positions by the highest Palestinian authority, the Lebanese government must, in its very first meeting and without delay or hesitation, set a clear timeline that does not exceed a few weeks to take practical steps to collect Palestinian weapons both inside and outside the camps. It must also assume responsibility for the security of the camps and the surrounding Lebanese areas. This would be a preparatory step toward collecting all illegal weapons in Lebanon and dissolving all illegitimate military groups, allowing the new presidency to move forward as it should. The Lebanese people have suffered immensely over the past thirty years due to military, security, and strategic decisions being made outside the state, in addition to the presence of illegal armed and security groups. It is now time for the Lebanese people to enjoy a real state that solely possesses all weapons and has full control over all military and security decisions through its official institutions.
