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| Amin Gemayel calls for national
dialogue Ex-president decries ‘political’ courts |
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| Former President Amin Gemayel called Saturday
for national dialogue to regain Lebanon’s international status. Speaking to a group of attorneys who belong to the Phalange Party opposition faction at a restaurant in the Kesrouan town of Qleiaat, the former president called for putting Lebanon above all considerations. The audience also included prominent political and social figures, including Brigadier Nadim Lteif, who represents the Free Patriotic Movement of the exiled former army commander, General Michel Aoun, and several MPs and legal figures. “Lebanon comes first, Lebanon with its resistance, Lebanon, which has done its duty for centuries on end and remained united,” the former president said. He also slammed the way laws were being implemented in the country and called for a reduction in court costs. He said the Beirut Bar Association had already begun moving to bring down the costs. “Where are we from the point of view of justice?” he asked, adding that Lebanon has never witnessed, in its entire history, the likes of what was happening today. He claimed that justice was being “distorted for personal or political purposes.” “The worst of all is that some courts are including political factors in their verdicts,” he said. In an indirect allusion to the August 2001 arrest of students after they were beaten up during a student march in support of liberties, Gemayel said that such practices undermined Lebanon’s international image and included it on the list of countries that continually violate human rights. In another indirect allusion to alleged violations of public liberties, Gemayel slammed the way the MTV television station was closed down by court order. When the court order was issued, it was said in the press that the station, owned by Gabriel Murr, was being closed for political reasons. Another example of political reasons behind court orders was the way the Metn by-election was won by Ghassan Mokheiber, who got only 1,500 votes, after the initial winner, Gabriel Murr, was disqualified. “Your mission, in these bad times, is not easy,” he told the Phalange lawyers. “Where is Lebanon on the implementation of laws with everyday bringing new violations of laws?” Gemayel asked. He promised the crowd that he would continue to struggle for “truth, for right and for the pride of our people.” Last week, Gemayel made an official visit to Libya, during which he conferred with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on a wide range of issues, including the lack of unity and solidarity among the Arabs before and after the Iraq war. Gemayel, who was accompanied by his son, Metn MP Pierre Gemayel, spoke to other Libyan officials on bilateral relations between Lebanon and Libya and on Iraq after the US-British invasion. Gemayel’s visit to Libya has created controversy in Lebanon, with the As-Safir daily claiming in an article that he was overstepping the Lebanese regime and going overboard in his political relations. – E.H. |
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