WikiLeaks: Geagea Said Disarming Hizbullah Key to Toppling Lahoud
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has reportedly called for making promises on the Shebaa farms and stressed that disarming Hizbullah was the key to toppling former President Emile Lahoud.
In a WikiLeaks cable published by al-Akhbar daily, Geagea said during a meeting with U.S. diplomats on August 12, 2006 that “Speaker Nabih Berri who is still controlled” by Hizbullah will not be able to support a move to topple Lahoud.
Berri “is not thinking that bringing Lahoud down would weaken Hizbullah and strengthen him,” the LF leader reportedly said.
According to Geagea, making promises to solve the Shebaa farms issue and the rebuilding of the south would help push for the Shiite party’s disarmament.
Geagea said that former Premier Fouad Saniora was “scared” and believed that Hizbullah would lose its strength once it is cleared from the south.
However, the LF leader warned that the group would still constitute a threat because it has an armed presence in the Bekaa and north Lebanon.
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