Not All Lebanese Believe Hezbollah Won
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - Thousands of Lebanese Christians turned out Sunday to commemorate their fallen in Lebanon's bloody civil war and to denounce Hezbollah's claims of victory in this summer's conflict with Israel. Samir Geagea, the popular leader of the Lebanese Forces (LF) parliamentary faction, berated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah for telling a massive rally in Beirut two days earlier that his group had scored a "divine victory" over Israel. The AP quoted Geagea as saying, "I don't feel victory because the majority of the Lebanese people do not feel victory. Rather, they feel that a major catastrophe had befallen them and made their present and future uncertain." The Christian leader blasted Nasrallah for announcing that Hezbollah will not disarm out of what the terror boss called a duty to defend Lebanon. "When we find a solution to (the issue of Hezbollah's) weapons, then it will be possible to establish the state as it should be," said Geagea, noting that Lebanon would never be truly sovereign so long as there existed a Hezbollah mini-state within its borders. Hezbollah's 34-day war with Israel reopened deep sectarian rifts within Lebanese society. While the conflict spurred support for the group among Lebanon's Shiite Muslims, the country's large Christian and Sunni Muslim populations became increasingly convinced of Hezbollah's detriment |
