Naharnet Newsdesk - Aoun: Tuesday's Katyusha Not Innocent

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Aoun: Tuesday's Katyusha Not Innocent

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun said that the Katyusha-type rocket launched from southern Lebanon into northern Israel on Tuesday night was not "innocent".
At a press conference held after the weekly meeting of Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, Aoun criticized the Lebanese parliamentary majority officials for disregarding the Israeli spying networks and talking only about Katyushas and Hizbullah's arms.

Answering a question, Aoun said that all those in charge of security in the South are to be held responsible for the security breach. He named the Lebanese army and UNIFIL as those forces.

Regarding the ongoing cabinet formation crisis, Aoun said that there was nothing new on the subject. However, he concluded that the governmental crisis will be eventually solved and FPM will occupy its position.

Aoun said that the negotiations regarding cabinet portfolios cannot be discussed in front of cameras and that his meeting with PM-designate Hariri will be held once any development occurs. He hoped for that meeting to be held "soon by God's will".

"I'm with forming the cabinet according to standards that preserve rights. I'm the only one who has the right to keep current portfolios for 2 years given that we took charge of them recently but others have to follow the rotation concept," said Aoun answering a question on portfolios distribution.

In an interview published Wednesday by As Safir daily, Aoun said that Lebanon is strong due to its diversity and will not witness another civil war even if the Middle East was set on fire.

"If the entire Middle East was burned … Lebanon will not burn from the fires of the civil war … The secret of the country's strength and one of the main factors of immunity is its confessional diversity which gives it an added value in the whole region," Aoun told As Safir.

Aoun also said the system is unbalanced.

Asked if balance could be reached through the Taef accord or if the country is in need of another Taef, Aoun said: "Why do we call it Taef? Let us call it Beirut 1. Now the prime minister is the absolute ruler through his majority in parliament."

The MP also called for proportional representation in cabinet and slammed the current electoral law that gave the prime minister predominance.

Beirut, 28 Oct 09, 18:13


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