Suleiman Says People, Army, Resistance Equation Requires Explanation

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Saturday that the tripartite formula of the people, army and the resistance requires some clarification, noting that the goal behind the defense strategy is to “confronting Israeli aggression against Lebanese territories.”

“We have already stressed several times in ministerial statements the importance of the cooperation among the people, the army and the resistance but we need to clarify the means of cooperation,” Suleiman said from his summer residence in Beiteddine.

He pointed out that the only goal behind setting a defense strategy is to “resist Israeli aggression against Lebanese territories.”

On Wednesday, Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called on the national dialogue committee to agree on a “liberation strategy” as well as on a defense strategy.

Suleiman stressed the importance of cooperation among all political parties to preserve the country, calling on all Lebanese foes to attend the upcoming national dialogue session on August 16.

“All the political and national figures should seek to preserve Lebanon’s stability and local and foreign sovereignty… Through the implementation of the Taef accord and cooperation” Suleiman said.

The president pointed out that priority is for stability amid the turmoil in the Middle East.

He noted that the cabinet and the dialogue committee should set the country’s policy referring to the Baabda Declaration, which was adopted by the rival leaders to safeguard the country from the negative impacts from the crisis in the neighboring countries.

Suleiman postponed the dialogue last month after the opposition tied its participation to a government decision to provide security agencies with the so-called telecom data to help them investigate assassination attempts against MP Butros Harb and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea.

The telecom data has since been handed over to the security apparatuses.

Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad’s announcement that the national defense strategy was not currently necessary because Lebanon was still in the liberation stage, was another reason for the March 14 alliance’s boycott of the last session on July 24.

Suleiman reiterated that stability in Lebanon can be only achieved through implementing the Baabda Declaration that rejects the use of Lebanon as a sanctuary, a transit point or a base for the smuggling of arms and armed men, to commit to the resolutions of international legitimacy and to continue efforts to agree on a national defense strategy, and to commit to the implementation of the Taef accord.