Lebanon's Phalange Party comments on ties with Syria, Hezbollah's weapons

Text of report by Lebanese National News Agency website

[Unattributed report: "Phalange Party Welcomes Minister Al-Mu'allim's Visit, Hopes it Will Turn new Page, and Affirms Need To Give Priority to Sovereignty in Policy Statement"]

The Political Bureau of the Phalange Party held its periodic weekly meeting this afternoon at the headquarters in Al-Sayfi under the chairmanship of the party leader President Amin al-Jumayyil. The conferees discussed various political and national issues other than party affairs.

The Political Bureau pondered several basic political and security points as well as government affairs and recorded its stands on them as follows:

1. The Lebanese Phalange Party once again extends its sincere congratulations to the families of the prisoners and martyrs, who regained their freedom and whose remains were returned to the homeland. It considers what has taken place an end to a thorny file, ushering in a new phase in the life of the liberated prisoners and their families on all levels.

2. The Political Bureau of the Phalange Party believes that this big step must be followed by other similar steps, such as returning the detainees in Syrian prisons and find out about their fate so that the Lebanese people's joy will cover the entire homeland and so that a dark page in the history of Lebanon will be removed.

3. The Political Bureau considered with great interest everything pertaining to the return of the prisoners and the remains of the martyrs from Israel, the reopening of the file of the detainees in Syrian prisons, and the increasing talk about peace on all regional and international levels, especially on the level of the Syrian-Israeli dialogue, the Syrian-European dialogue, and the Iranian-US-European dialogue and the atmosphere that these dialogues have created for a new phase, which will have its positive effects on Lebanon and the regional arena, which is thirsting for security, stability and peace.

4. The Phalange Political Bureau welcomes the visit paid by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mu'allim to Beirut today and hopes that it will turn a new page in the relations between the two countries. The Phalange Party, which has called and still calls for good relations between the two countries hopes that Syria will take positive steps that will put a final end to the previous phase of trusteeship and open the door for a new reading of the agreements that governed the relations between the two countries throughout the past period to ensure a common commitment to the norms acknowledged by international law.

The Phalange Party believes that the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries will rectify the constitutional faults that marred the relations between them, especially on the Lebanese level. One such fault concerned the establishment of the Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council from the Lebanese side. For the participation of the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, which enjoys legislative and control powers over the executive authority, in the work and decisions of the council constituted a violation of the principle of the separation of powers, which is valid in Lebanon.

5. The Political Bureau pondered the information it received on the results in the work of the ministerial committee, which was entrusted with drafting the political statement for the new government. It reaffirms its confidence in its allies among the members of this committee and the importance of giving top priority to the clause on sovereignty in the statement. For confining sovereignty to the Lebanese state and its various institutions, especially the military and security ones, does not tolerate the inclusion of any other party, whether internal or external, especially since most of the Lebanese territories have been liberated and Resolution 1701 has set limits for the Lebanese and international security role all along the southern border with Israel, which allows the establishment of a state with diplomatic efforts in all spheres so as to restore state prestige and authority over the whole of the Shab'a Farms, Kfar Shuba, and the Lebanese village of Al-Ghajar before the resort to any other means.

The party emphasizes that it is important for the upcoming Lebanese-Syrian summit to tackle the delineation of the borders between the two countries in that region and to provide the Lebanese side with all the documents and papers that prove Lebanon's ownership of these farms before the international authorities, especially the United Nations, prior to returning them to the Lebanese state and its sovereignty.

6. Finally, the Political Bureau pondered the significance of the stands taken by Hezbollah, especially those that specify a new job for the resistance weapon and that speak about "defence" after "complete liberation." The bureau asked: Do these stands fall within context of the established concept on effective Lebanese sovereignty, irrespective of the justifications and reasons behind these new stands?

Source: Lebanese National News Agency website, Beirut, in Arabic 1720 gmt 21 Jul 08