Head of the Lebanese Forces (LF) Samir Geagea stressed that the age of Syrian hegemony over Lebanon was over and that the March 14 project was still ongoing.
In remarks on the 13th anniversary of his release from prison, he said that the March 14 project still stands and its views still enjoy the support of the majority of the Lebanese people. The structure of the March 14 camp, however, no longer exists, he told the pro-LF al-Najwa al-Masira magazine.
The pillars of the camp, the LF, Mustaqbal Movement and Progressive Socialist Party, are still active and coordination is ongoing between them, he added.
On his position on the Syria, Geagea noted that Israel is now the strongest advocate of the survival of Bashar Assad’s regime.
“Dealing with the regime as a reality is a given, but floating the regime on the legal and popular levels, is another matter,” he explained.
“We are dealing with this regime as a reality because no alternative to it has emerged,” he remarked. “The regime is simply persisting thanks to Iranian and Russian presence on its territories and until alternative equations are reached.”
“The regime will immediately collapse if Russia or Iran exit the picture,” asserted the LF leader.
“On the official level, Lebanon will continue to resist the pressure and remain in a neutral position when it comes to the regime,” he added, while rejecting normalizing ties with it.
“As for the Syrian refugees, the regime is the side that is most opposed to their return home. This was demonstrated by its approval of the return of only its loyalists, as shown by registration lists that were submitted to it,” Geagea noted. These loyalists only make up 5 or 10 percent of the total number of refugees.
Syria ended its nearly 30-year hegemony over Lebanon in 2005 in wake of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The regime is widely believed to be responsible for the murder due to its then political and security control over its smaller neighbor.
