MP Geagea Slams Bassil's 'Malicious, Evil' Remarks

MP Sethrida Geagea of the Lebanese Forces on Friday lashed out at Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil over remarks he voiced in a TV interview overnight Thursday.

Referring to Bassil's remarks on the expected reconciliation between the LF and the Marada Movement, Geagea said the FPM chief “spoke of the issue in the worst and most malicious way possible, in remarks filled with spite, evil and bad intentions towards the two parties.”

“His opening of this wound was based on totally false information and those who have passed away know very well who decided and who carried out” the 1978 massacre against Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh's family, the MP added.

In his interview on MTV on Thursday, Bassil said that “if Franjieh manages to forgive the person who killed his family, then he can also forgive the person whom he thinks has taken the presidency from him.”

Bassil's remarks carried an apparent accusation that LF leader Samir Geagea played a role in the massacre.

Turning to Bassil's stance on the LF's share in the new government, Sethrida Geagea denied the FPM chief's claim that “all political forces are against giving the LF a sovereign portfolio.”

“This is pure misinformation. It is enough to demonstrate the stances of all parties since the beginning of the cabinet formation process to verify that no one has opposed the allocation of a sovereign portfolio to the LF other than Minister Bassil,” Geagea added.

The four so-called sovereign portfolios are foreign affairs, defense, interior and finance.