The Lebanese President also warned Israel against exploiting the Iraqi crisis by launching its own aggression against Lebanon and Syria, and deporting new waves of Palestinians to Lebanon.
Lahoud also hailed the Lebanese-Syrian coordination and cooperation on various bilateral and regional issues. He said the Syrian military presence in his country is "legal and temporary," describing the recent Syrian move to withdraw 4,000 troops from Lebanon as "the result of coordination and consultation between the two countries at the highest levels."
The Lebanese President also praised the achievements of Saturday's Arab Summit in Sharm El Sheikh for adopting "a formula that falls in harmony with global stances that reject war on Iraq." President Lahoud also spoke on various local, regional, and global current issues.
Here is the full text of the interview:
As an Arab leader who chaired the 14th Arab Summit in Beirut last year, how do you view the current political situation in the Arab world, and how do you evaluate the resolutions issued by the 15th Arab Summit held in Sharm El Sheikh on Saturday?
It is well-known that Lebanon has always been keen to preserve Arab unity, a fact that has been proved on many occasions and at various levels. Hence, one could understand the Lebanese insistence that each meeting for Arab countries should be more than a mere routine gathering, particularly if we know that people all over the Arab countries and in other parts of the world pin great hopes on Arab leaders.
This makes it an obligation towards our people to work for meeting their ambitions and issuing a unified resolution that should guarantee the rights of each Arab country, and consequently be a guarantee for all Arab states.
We in Lebanon believe that leaders passed historic and model resolutions in their Arab Summit held in Beirut in March last year. We did our best to boost those resolutions despite regional and global difficulties, happenings, and developments that we faced. During our meetings, discussions and consultations with our brethren Arab leaders in Sharm El Sheikh, we felt the strong commitment by all Arab leaders to implement the Beirut Summit communique.
We consider such commitment as a bright point that Sharm El Sheikh Summit has achieved. This commitment has also made the summit avoid entering into formulas and initiatives that could have affected the unity of Arab stance regarding the current developments in the region, had they been presented to the leaders.
Undoubtedly, Arab leaders, through the resolutions of their recent summit, have been able to come up with a new unified formula that falls in line with the rapidly growing global stances that reject war on Iraq, call for the implementation of the international legitimacy resolutions, particularly the Security Council Resolution number 1441, and stress the need for giving enough time for the efforts exerted at more than one level to settle the crisis peacefully.
There have been several statements by senior U.S. officials on the need for redrawing the map of the region and changing political regimes by force. To what extent are you concerned about these statements, and what kind of map you predict for the region if the U.S. does occupy Iraq?
Such talk is really very serious if implemented. The danger stems from the fact that it turns the world back to the jungle law. It destroys the role of the United Nations and leads to the violation of international charters, resolutions, and human rights. However, the most serious thing about it is that it comes from a state that has always been claiming to be proud of its human values and defending human rights in the world.
But these things are still at the stage of assumption, and the whole world, including the Americans uttered powerful words in this regard and admitted the legitimacy of the UN and the need for giving diplomatic opportunities the last minute of the 24th hour because it is really a big shame that we are still maintaining the mentality of wars and violence while we are living in the 21st century.
When we talk about the serious impacts of violence and aggression on people under occupation, we base our judgment on what we have experienced due to the war our country had witnessed from one side and the aggression by Israel against our people after its occupation of South Lebanon and Western Biqa'a.
However, we have liberated the greatest parts of our occupied territories, thanks to the unity of the Lebanese people who supported the army and the national resistance, and to the great support we have received from our brethren country, Syria. We are still continuing our struggle to liberate the remaining parts of our occupied lands.
The absolute failure of Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, in his slogan to bring peace to the Israelis by adopting violence is clear evidence of the ineffectiveness of the war option and the need to understand that adopting peaceful means and diplomacy to achieve the desired goals according to the standardisation of justice is the ideal alternative.
It is not easy to talk about the occupation of Iraq because any occupation or aggression of people is a direct reason for giving birth to resistance.
It is also not for the interest of America or any other force, particularly at the current situation and developments, to face such resistance that would receive the sympathy of many nations and leaders worldwide.
The French-German stand, supported by a wide anti-war front worldwide, has not been utilised by the Arab countries properly. How do you view this stance and why didn't Arab countries join it?The French-German stance has mirrored the stances of many peoples in the world, including the Americans, since they fully realise that launching a unilateral war against any other country will leave the whole world prone to danger.
It will have very serious impact to the extent that there might be a need for creating a new world order, something which will divide the world, bring it backward to the Cold War era, and send it many years back.
The French-German front is very wide and it comprises many key countries, like Russia. The three states have issued a joint statement, and Arabs absolutely should be part of this front. As I mentioned earlier, the Arab movement, particularly towards these countries, has given its fruits during the recent sessions of the Security Council.
As an evidence of the harmony in stances on this delicate issue is the invitation sent by the foreign ministers of the European Union to Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, and the Lebanese Foreign Minister Mah-moud Hammoud to address their meeting held in Brussels recently to shed light on the Arab stance pertaining to the Iraqi crisis.
Bitter experience of civil war
You in Lebanon have a hard experience with civil war. Do you have any fears that Iraq would go through the same bitter experience if that country faces power vacuum? Any message you want to convey to the Iraqis in this regard?
The Lebanese stance towards Iraq, or any other country is quite clear, as it can be summarised as the following: Full respect of the international legitimacy and UN resolutions, and adopting them as a reference for solving all disputes between countries.
As for things related to Iraq, we do believe that the matter should be left to the Iraqi people to decide its fate. Our stance stems from the fact that we are very keen to protect Arab people's rights, something which is very clear in defending the rights of the Palestinians who should get their full rights.
Our stance can be also evidenced by our total rejection of any forms of settling (Palestinians on our lands) because it serves but the interests of the (Israeli) occupation and its ambitions. We do believe in peoples' ability to change their conditions, and we have given a good example to follow in this regard through liberating our occupied territories.
Due to the focus on the Iraqi crisis, the world's interest in the Palestinian question has decreased noticeably. How do you think the crisis will affect the Arab-Israeli conflict in the short and long terms?
The Palestinian question is always part of our thinking and discussions even if we do not talk about it publicly. We never spare any chance when we meet with senior officials to stress the rights of the Palestinian people to live in dignity, and the need for Israel to deal with the issue with full awareness, logic, and acceptance of the international legitimacy resolutions.
This is because whatever time this issue takes, each party will take its rights.
Let me assure you that Israel will never enjoy peace and security unless the people of the region are convinced that it is the just, comprehensive, and lasting peace they are going to have. It is not that kind of peace Israel is seeking to enjoy by tailoring it to suit the standardisation that it has set up specially to suit it and according to its conditions which depend on the U.S. support and its military might that is far from international monitoring or inspection. This is a strange and rejected matter.
Since Israel continues to occupy Arab lands, the Arab-Israeli conflict will continue to be. And if the U.S. succeeded to draw the world's attention away from the suffering of the Palestinian people, through its beating of war drums against Iraq, nobody can succeed in hiding rights and justice. The Palestinian voice will continue to be heard loudly through the voice of each Arab citizen wherever and whenever he or she is the world.
While the world is busy with the Iraqi crisis, what would be your position if Israel took the "opportunity" and launched its own war against Lebanon and Syria, particularly if it deported more Palestinians to Lebanon?
We had already warned Israel against exploiting the Iraqi crisis to make any move against us or against Syria either through launching military strikes or through deporting Palestinians to our lands. In fact, we have tested the Israeli mentality and had field knowledge about the Israeli crimes.
Therefore, we have already taken exceptional measures to abort any attempt to deport Palestinians, and Israeli has come to realise this fact very well. As for the Israeli threats against Syria, there is nothing new in them.
Every time Israel threatens and warns and it has illusions that its gambling can succeed in affecting what is linking between Syria and Lebanon of distinguished ties and continuous coordination to ensure that Israel can not target any of the two countries individually.
This issue comprises a complexity for Israel which has always tried and is still trying, in vain, to destabilise the Syrian-Lebanese relationship. Events have proved that this option has been more than successful for the two countries. It has spared the two nations serious impact since Israel had bad intentions about both of them.
As you see, the Lebanese-Syrian cooperation covers all aspects. It is based on joint vision and understanding of the threats the two countries are facing. If Israel has some interests in destroying the distinguished ties between Syria and Lebanon, then the two countries will work harder to serve their mutual interests, something which is of course opposite what Israeli is seeking to achieve.
We make it very clear for all that cooperation between Syria and Lebanon will never strop. On the contrary it gets a new momentum and strength every time the two countries face bigger difficulties. If Israel used to stab its neighbours in the back, the case is totally different with Lebanon, as it will never betray its history and memory to satisfy anyone.
Withdrawal of troops from Lebanon
In this context, how do you view Syria's recent move to withdraw some 4,000 of its troops from your country?
As I mentioned earlier, coordination and cooperation between the two countries has never stopped and it will never stop. In this regard, we can rightfully and objectively read this step as part of the deployment of Syrian troops in Lebanon.
I have assured on different occasions that the Syrian presence in Lebanon is legal and temporary. It is discussed in the context of how it serves the interests of the two countries. It is worth mentioning here that this is not the first time of its kind move, as the were two similar moves before.
The redeployment of Syrian troops in Lebanon did not come as a surprise or as unexpected move. It was the result of coordination and cooperation between the two countries at the highest levels. This coordination has reflected positively on the military leadership in both countries, as the redeployment of troops was completed without leaving any security vacuum behind.
It was the fruit of Lebanese and Syrian keenness to boost the stability which Lebanon has been enjoying for a while.
We should mention here that the role played by Syria was very essential for helping reunify the Lebanese army and equip it. Syria has also played an effective role in helping security forces in Leban-on to preserve security and civilian peace in the country, something that enabled us to liberate the greatest parts of our occupied territories.
The Lebanese and Syrian leaderships have continuous contacts to find the best means to enhance security in Lebanon from one hand, and study the locations considered to be strategic to keep the (Syrian) troops at during dangerous and rapid developments the region is coming through.
Gulf News 2003
