31 July 2007

BEIRUT: Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader Michel Aoun implicitly rejected on Monday Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir's call for consensus in the by-election in Metn, saying he will not allow "human emotions to triumph over legitimate rights at all times. "The electoral battle in Metn was imposed on us, yet we see the Metn by-election as a means to preserve the Constitution," Aoun told reporters in a news conference following the weekly meeting of the FPM-affiliated Reform and Change Parliamentary bloc.

The Patriarch reiterated his call for conciliation in his Sunday sermon, saying that during times of crisis, legitimate matters ought to be overlooked and mercy and harmony given a chance.

Aoun also lashed out at the media, saying it had "exaggerated" his statements about the FPM's electoral opponent former President Amine Gemayel. "My words were given exaggerated connotations," Aoun said.

In a news conference Saturday, Aoun had said: "Not you [Gemayel] or anything you boast of can reach below my waist level."

"Mind your tongue, adhere to speech codes and respect your position as a former president," Aoun had told Gemayel.

Aoun was responding to comments made by Gemayel on the same day, in which the former president had accused the FPM leader of having "degrading political alliances."

By-elections scheduled for August 5 will be held in the second district of Beirut and in the Mount Lebanon region of Metn to replace slain MPs Walid Eido and Pierre Gemayel, respectively. The Metn by-election has drawn much more attention.

Gemayel, Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) candidate Camille Khoury and independent Joseph Mansour Asmar are contesting the Metn seat of Gemayel's assassinated son.

Also on Monday, Gemayel's wife Joyce said she held the retired general "indirectly" responsible for the murder of her son Pierre in November.

"General Michel Aoun is indirectly involved in the assassination of my son Pierre because he is allied with those who kill the leaders of the March 14 Forces," she told reporters following a visit to Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir in his summer headquarters in Dimane in North Lebanon.

She also saluted Sfeir's Sunday sermon saying it was no surprise that the patriarch had expressed his support for the candidacy of her husband, "because he knows that my husband's candidacy is nothing but a tribute to our son and a means to preserve his ideas and stands."

"They stole Pierre away from us; but we will not let them steal away his parliamentary seat," Gemayel said.

She also expressed fears that the by-election in Metn would engender skirmishes between Phalange and FPM supporters, similar to the ones witnessed late on Sunday night.

Phalanges and FPM supporters clashed in the towns of Brummana and Baabdat northeast of Beirut. The use of weapons was not reported and the Lebanese Army, along with the Internal Security Forces, succeeded in containing the fight and augmented its patrols in the region. Similar minor incidents were reported in the eastern Beirut suburb of Burj Hammoud.

Both the Phalange party and the FPM traded accusations over which group started the fights on Sunday.

In an interview with Tel? Liban television on Monday, Amin Gemayel warned that "third parties could be the main cause behind the stirring of clashes in Metn." 

Head of ISF General Ashraf Rifi told The Daily Star on Thursday that security measures in Beirut and Metn will be "boosted to the maximum from Monday until the day of elections."

While the exact nature of security measures awaits discussion during a meeting of the Central Security Council scheduled for Thursday, Rifi expected that both the army and the ISF "will operate on full capacity."

An army source told The Daily Star on Monday that the army will deploy "as many personnel as needed to ensure that by-elections proceed smoothly and without incidents."

"We do not want people to panic as if some kind of war is in preparation," the source said.

"The people of Metn and Beirut are civilized enough to assume their responsibilities and avoid clashes," the source said.

In a telephone interview with The Daily Star, FPM official Gebran Bassil described Sunday's clashes as "a materialization of President's Gemayel's threats that even a horn could spark clashes in Metn."

"It is high time all groups realize that FPM's civilized behavior is not a sign of weakness and all attacks will be countered by the force of law rather than violence," he said, adding that "logic rather than emotions should govern political life in Lebanon."

Bassil added that the patriarch was a Christian religious man, "and like any religious man his duty is to preach about love and mercy."

"We had hoped that the patriarch would voice similar comments when Phalanges supporters started throwing accusations at the FPM when MP Pierre Gemayel was assassinated."