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Soaid on Hariri Murder Anniversary: We Must Build State without Conditions Imposed by Militias

March 14 General Secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid warned on Thursday that Lebanon is in danger because of the spread of arms in the country and attempts to link it to the developments in Syria.

He said: “Those destroying the state must return to it so we can build it without conditions imposed by militias.”

He made his remarks during a ceremony marking the eighth anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Soaid added: “Lebanon is in danger because those in power today have not learned from the mistakes of the past.”

“They are trying to link the country to the Baath regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad,” he continued.

“Lebanon is in danger because of the swift collapse of its state and its inability to apply the law and provide security to the people,” he noted.

“Lebanon has been transformed into what appears to be a failed state,” he said.

He emphasized the need to return to the Taef accord that “ensures the rights of all components of society.”

“Our hand is extended to those with honest intentions in order to restore the authority of the state,” stressed Soaid.

“We urge them to work together to halt our fall towards the unknown,” he remarked.

He called for an end to attempts to ignite strife in Lebanon, adding: “Some sides are banking on the collapse of the March 14 camp, but experience has taught us since the assassination of Hariri, that we are capable of moving mountains if we are united.”

“The majority of the people do not want the return to violence and wars and this is the responsibility of the state and the March 14 forces,” he declared.

“The state must liberate itself from sectarian interests and instead be based on civil ones. Politics must be stripped of sectarian interests, starting with the March 14 camp,” he stressed.

“Given these dangers, there can be no salvation except through returning to the values of the Cedar Revolution when the people broke down sectarian boundaries and overcame their fears,” said the March 14 General Secretariat coordinator.

The March 14 opposition alliance commemorated Hariri's assassination anniversary in a rally at the BIEL exhibition center in downtown Beirut, in the absence of key leaders.

Four Hizbullah members have been named suspects by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the Beirut truck bombing that killed Hariri and 21 others on February 14 , 2005.

The party denies the charges and has refused to hand over the suspects.


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