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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Aoun Travels to Aleppo on Board Private Syrian Presidential Plane

2011-02-09

[An Nahar] Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... leader Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... traveled to Aleppo on Tuesday to participate in the celebrations of Saint Maroun Day in Brad the next day. Caretaker Ministers Jebran Bassil and Fadi Abboud, and Change and Reform bloc MPs Ibrahim Kenaan, Nabil Nicolas, Naji Gharious and Fadi al-Aawar accompanied Aoun. Former politicians Salim Aoun and Camille Khoury were also among the delegation. The FPM leader and the delegation traveled to Syria aboard a private Syrian presidential plane.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Is the Hezbollah-Aoun alliance finally dead?

2007-10-11

FPM MP Ibrahim Kenaan said Aoun's bloc will vote in parliament irrespective of whether agreement is reached on a candidate. In an interview with Naharnet, he appeared unwilling to acknowledge he was part of the "opposition", and refused to call Hizbullah an "ally". MP Ibrahim Kenaan, secretary of the Change and Reform Parliamentary bloc, said that if legislators failed to reach consensus on a presidential candidate "we can still vote in parliament" irrespective of who wins or loses. Kenaan, in an interview with Naharnet, said that Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun is the bloc's candidate for the presidential office, but failed to identify him as the opposition candidate. Hizbullah, according to Kenaan, "is not an ally" but rather "a partner in the homeland." At the risk of reading too much into this statement, cracks in this "non-alliance" between Aoun and Hizbullah have emerged over the past couple of weeks, following a Hizbullah statement that Aoun was "not the only candidate". A Nasrallah speech extolling Aoun's character without naming him or committing to his candidacy seems to have failed in impressing the general, who is not stupid enough to buy into Nasrallah's 11th hour proposal to change the constitution to allow for Aoun's election through a popular vote. Aoun's movement is also under immense pressure by the Maronite church, which is close to excommunicating (at least in a patriotic/political sense) Christian MPs who heed Hizbullah's call to boycott the election. The talks between Hariri and Berri will probably reach a dead end, if they haven't already after Nasrallah's speech. At best they are designed to diffuse sectarian tension in the country. Sunni-Shia clashes in Beirut often go unreported by the media. But even if these talks produce a candidate, it will not be Aoun. And the general knows it. All he can do now is vote for himself.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

March 14 forces demand Parliament take action against Lahoud

2005-12-15

The March 14 political forces renewed their campaign against Syria, blaming it for the assassination of MP and leading journalist Gebran Tueni and calling for an emergency parliamentary session to debate the fate of the Syrian regime's last representative in Lebanon, President Emile Lahoud. "By assassinating Gebran Tueni, the Syrian regime ... has renewed its war on Lebanon," said MP Boutros Harb as he read a statement following a meeting of the Independence Intifada coalition - of which Tueni was a leading member. Tueni, 48, the general director of An-Nahar newspaper where the coalition held their meeting, was killed in a car bomb on Monday just a day after his return from France where he had been spending time for fear of an attempt on his life. "We urge Parliament to hold an emergency session to discuss the dangerous situation generated by the police state that prevails at the highest level, namely the president of the republic," said Harb, who, along with several other politicians, has been calling for Lahoud's resignation since the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Lahoud's mandate was "renewed by force at Syria's request in violation of the Lebanese Constitution, and this has paralyzed the executive power and led to the crisis threatening Lebanon's independence and fate," said Harb. Despite their division from the March 14 gathering since the return of their leader MP Michel Aoun from exile, Aoun's parliamentary Change and Reform bloc joined in the meeting, but didn't stay long and left before the release of the official statement. "We were not invited, but we came in solidarity with the martyr Tueni," said MP Ibrahim Kenaan. Aoun's bloc left the meeting early, raising speculation of a difference in opinion between the two sides that has grown since the parliamentary elections. Harb clarified that the statement reflects the opinion of those that remained until the end of the meeting. "This statement is a representation of the opinions of people who are here now," he said at the news conference following the hour-long meeting. So Tueni, like lots of other Lebanese pols, was hiding out in France for fear of his life. Presumably somebody tipped him the coast was clear, whereupon he was boomed.

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