ASSASSINS IN LEBANON
A
very good friend and I have been reading and talking about this botched
assassination
attempt and how it could impact the region.
The
big picture issue continues to be the destabilization of Lebanon at a
time
when the region cannot afford one more ounce of trouble.
Simply
put, the Syrian fingerprints on this attempt are there.
Iranian
fingerprints are right next to the Syrian prints.
The
real concern over this attempt is the theory that Iran is more and more
worried
the Sunni faction in Lebanon
may take advantage of the Syrian crisis
to
regain power in Lebanon ...
As if the STL /UN / court case was not
worrying
them enough..
Showing
the Christians, who lean natural to pro Shia
/ Hezbollah / that
they are
in danger is a ploy to place them back in the Sunni camp thus
weakening
the current, pro- Iranian / Syrian /
government.
Short
answer; the March 14th movement making a bid to get the Christians
back
on their side.
Attempting
to assassinate someone like Geagea is a bold and desperate move.
As a
reminder; Iran , as they face
a potential conflict with Israel ,
cannot
accept
a loss of Hezbollah operations in Lebanon .
Anyone
who believes Iran 's
paranoia is based solely on its nuclear program
doesn't
understand what is taking place in the region.
Geagea Warns March 14 in Eye of the Storm
12 April 2012
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea told March 14 opposition
officials that
Christians in Lebanon
assassination if snipers succeeded in killing him.
Al-Liwaa daily on Thursday quoted Geagea as saying in his
address to the
officials during their large-scale meeting at his residence in
Maarab that
"March 14 is in the eye of the storm." "We
should all be aware of that and
act in this regard," he said. The LF chief also put his
assassination
attempt within the framework of the "big confrontation
taking place in the
region."
Had the snipers shot him, the incident "would have had
dangerous
repercussions on the Christian presence in Lebanon
Syrian regime and its allies are fighting is a final battle
of either
killing or be killed," the sources of the conferees
quoted Geagea as saying.
The LF chief urged March 14 to find serious and thoughtful
ways to confront
the battle that could last for a couple of months or a year
or two, the
sources told al-Liwaa.
LF MP Antoine Zahra also told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3)
that "the
government's different sides" have taken the decision
to resume the attacks
on Lebanese opposition personalities. The March 14 coalition
said following
its Maarab meeting on Wednesday that the government should
repeal a decision
preventing the Internal Security Forces from accessing what
is known as the
telecom data which it believes would help in the probe of
Geagea's attempted
murder. According to al-Liwaa, the statement was drafted by a
committee that
included MPs George Adwan and Ammar Houry, former lawmaker
Elias Atallah and
Marwan Saqr from the Democratic Renewal Movement of ex-MP
Nassib Lahoud, who
died in February.
The movement returned to its membership in the March 14
forces, al-Liwaa
said. The Phalange party was also present to throw his
support behind Geagea
although it wasn't participating in the meetings of the
March 14
general-secretariat. The party's leader Amin Gemayel and his
son MP Sami
Gemayel did not attend the gathering but lawmaker Elie
Marouni was present.
Meanwhile, informed sources said that investigators have
found new evidence
in their probe into Geagea's assassination attempt. They are
carrying out
tests on pieces of cloths and an empty bottle found in the
vicinity of the
area where snipers shot at Geagea as he was walking in the
garden of his
fortified residence. Investigators are also probing the
movement of suspects
from and to the area where the snipers were located, the
sources told
al-Liwaa
