Aoun: Talks not treason, treason is dragging country into war for foreign interests
President Joseph Aoun said Monday that negotiations with Israel are not treason and that "treason is dragging your country into war to serve foreign interests."
"Some criticize us for choosing to negotiate, claiming there is no national consensus," he said, clearly pointing at Hezbollah. "When you dragged the country into war, did you have national consensus then?" Aoun asked.
Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel on March 2, two days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. The fighting has killed over 2,500 people, wounded more than 7,000 and displaced over 1 million people.
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem on Monday rejected Lebanon's planned direct talks with Israel, calling them a "grave sin" that will destabilize the country.
"We categorically reject direct negotiations with Israel, and those in power should know that their actions will not benefit Lebanon or themselves," Qassem said in a statement, calling on authorities to "back down from their grave sin that is putting Lebanon in a spiral of instability".
He said Hezbollah will not give up its arms and people will return to their lands.
Aoun pushed back against his detractors, telling them to "judge the results" rather than hurling "accusations of treason" before the process even begins. He rejected the claim that the state was negotiating from a position of surrender.
"My goal is to reach an end to the state of war with Israel, similar to the armistice agreement" of 1949, Aoun said in a statement, adding that "I assure you that I will not accept reaching a humiliating agreement".
"Wait until the negotiations start, then judge the results," he said, adding that he supports war for national defense but fully rejects wars in support of external powers like Iran.
"How much longer will the people of the South pay the price for the wars of others on our land — the latest being the 'support war' for Gaza and the 'support war' for Iran? Had this war been for the sake of Lebanon, we would have supported it. But when the goal of a war is to serve the interests of others, I reject it entirely."
Source: Naharnet
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