Aoun Voices Satisfaction over Bkirki Reconciliation

President Michel Aoun on Thursday expressed relief over the Bkirki reconciliation between the Lebanese Forces and the Marada Movement.

“Any agreement between the Lebanese parties, especially those who fought each other during the bloody events that rocked Lebanon, enhances national unity and achieves immunity for the Lebanese arena,” Aoun told his visitors.

“It advances the approach of political dialogue and strengthens the authority of the uniting state,” the president added.

The reconciliation meeting between LF leader Samir Geagea and Marada chief Suleiman Franjieh turned the page on 40 years of animosity between their two parties.

The rift dates back to the 1978 Ehden Massacre which resulted in the death of Franjieh’s father, mother and three-year-old sister. Dozens of Marada supporters were also killed in the carnage.

Marada accuses Geagea, the LF’s military commander in the North at the time, of leading the squad that carried out the operation. Geagea denies the allegations, arguing that he had been wounded and taken to hospital prior to the carnage.

Aoun and Geagea had reached a similar reconciliation in 2016 but ties between the two parties were strained after the formation of Saad Hariri’s government.