March 14 vows struggle will continue

BEIRUT: The March 14 coalition pursued its campaign against Hezbollah Wednesday, accusing it of staging a coup to bring down the government of caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri in a bid to appoint a new premier backed by the party, as politicians from the March 8 group slammed their rivals sectarian rhetoric.

The General Secretariat of the March 14 Forces said the March 8s toppling of the Hariri government on Jan. 12 ought to be faced by action more effective than traditional opposition. A coup cannot be answered by traditional opposition, said the General Secretariat in a statement.

The coalition reiterated its support for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is probing the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and announced it will pursue March 14s campaign to disarm Hezbollah and armed Palestinian factions in Lebanon.

The disarmament [of those groups] is not meant to ensure the freedom of the Lebanese only, it is also a condition to put an end to attempts to weaken state institutions, said the March 14 statement.

At the request of the March 14 Forces, hundreds descended to Beiruts Martyrs Square in Downtown Tuesday in support of outgoing Prime Minister Hariri against Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati, who the coalition accuses of being Hezbollahs candidate. The March 14 coalition called on supporters to gather in Martyrs Square every day at 6 p.m. until their demands for a sovereign, weapons-free country are met.

Commenting on the poor turnout at the demonstrations, Tripoli MP Mohammad Kabbara said the Future Movement was planning a large demonstration on Feb. 14 to mark the sixth anniversary of Hariris assassination.

The silent majority is currently not participating in demonstrations, but is still loyal to caretaker Prime Minister Hariri and March 14, he told MTV.

Supporters of Hariris Future Movement responded to the groups call for a day of rage, hitting streets Tuesday to express their backing of the caretaker prime ! minister as rival Mikati was nominated for the premiership by a majority of 68 MPs, the bulk of whom were from the Hezbollah-led March 8 movement.

Future Movement supporters took to the streets of Beirut, Tripoli and Sidon, as well as Iqlim al-Kharroub, burning tires and blocking roads.

Commenting on the day of rage, caretaker Energy Minister Gibran Bassil, from the Free Patriotic Movement, lashed out at Hariri, saying the rhetoric adopted by March 14 not only contributed to fueling sectarian tensions but also nurtured extremism.

Hariri reinforces sectarian feelings among his supporters yet he is unable to control them and this is dangerous, Bassil told a news conference. Religious extremism and fundamentalist groups are growing in Lebanon because there is someone inciting them without being able to control them, and this is very dangerous.

According to Bassil, the next government should represent a chance for the Lebanese to regain their lost and neglected rights.

He also argued that a Mikati-led Cabinet should be not be made up exclusively of technocrats, commenting: Fighting corruption requires that technocrats and politicians join forces.

Minyeh MP Ahmad Fatfat, a Future Movement official, tied the participation of his group in the new Cabinet to the proposals put forth by the prime minister-designate during consultations with lawmakers expected to kick off Thursday at Parliament. If the proposals made contradict our principles, we will not take part, he said.

Metn MP Sami Gemayel, however, downplayed the chances of the Mikati government making breakthroughs, saying the country was currently facing an open crisis.

The Kataeb (Phalange) Party official blamed a series of compromises by the March 14 camp in recent years for getting us to where we are today.

He added that no further compromises would be acceptable, particularly with regard to the STL. Any compromise over international justice will be confronted by the Kataeb Party in the street, ! irrespec tive of who heads the government, he vowed.

Gemayel also called for early parliamentary elections to resolve the countrys political impasse, and proposed the convening of a general national conference to discuss a series of issues, such as weapons held by non-state actors.

Speaker Nabih Berris Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, meanwhile, said one of the top priorities of the next government should be to restore the peoples trust in their state as well as urgently addressing issues relates to security and the economy. The Daily Star