In a television interview with Al Manar TV conducted by Imad Marmal, El Marada Leader Sleiman Frangieh said that Israel would refrain from attacking Lebanon because such an attack would unify the Lebanese and would therefore lead to the demise of the Israeli aggressors.

Frangieh stressed that the move to accuse Hezbollah of assassinating PM Rafiq Hariri is a part of a plot designed to achieve for the Israelis what they failed to do during the 2006 war on Lebanon.

On the anniversary of the death of his grandfather the late Lebanese President Sleiman Frangieh, the Marada leader said that "what we inherited from President Frangieh is a source of pride for all of us."

"I am extremely proud to sustain the policy line of President Frangieh who advocated national unity and coexistence and preserved the Christian presence particularly in northern Lebanon," Frangieh added.

With regard to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Frangieh said "the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is an international will more than it is an international tribunal, and we do not know what this tribunal want from us or what it wanted from Syria previously."

"It seems as though the tribunal's verdict is designed to cause conflict rather than to indict the real killers of PM Rafiq Hariri," he noted, warning that "we must not fall into the trap that is being prepared for us."

"They're telling Hezbollah: 'We want to slaughter you, but don't make any move.' They're trying to do now what they weren't able to do in the July war, and we'll be heading toward a disaster," Frangieh warned.

"May 7 clashes remained under control, but what's happening now may be uncontrollable, and we may reach a new 1975 and chaos," he added.

Frangieh said that Lebanon needs statesmen who would be able to overcome the current tense period. "This tough period will prove whether or not PM Saad Hariri is a statesman," he noted.

"There can't be an excellent relation with Hariri as long as he has relations with people of the type of Samir Geagea and little by little he is starting to realize that his relation with Geagea is no longer an advantage."

Frangieh slammed Samir Geagea's persistence to wonder about the State's existence, asking "has Geagea forgotten that he is the first to undermine the State and that he shot dead many Lebanese soldiers. "It is right to wonder where the State is when this State releases from prison a murderer who killed a prime minister and many others?" the Marada leader wondered.

Frangieh added that Geagea's biggest wish is "to see Hezbollah doing any military action in Christian areas so that he becomes the hero and the first defender of Christians." "We won't grant him this thing, we don't need Hezbollah or anyone and Geagea is not that major force that would scare us, and there's a Lebanese army capable of protecting the people."

As for his alliance with Hezbollah, the Marada stalwart reiterated ""we have a common political vision with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and that's why we're allies, and exchanging information deep-rooted this strategic eternal alliance."

Asked about Damascus' role in the current period, Frangieh said: "Syria would only intervene in Lebanon to play a role in the rapprochement of viewpoints," adding that the Lebanese opposition would however act the way it sees fit.

24/7/2010