Geagea: Assad regime in its final days

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has stressed that Syrian President Bashar Assad's embattled regime “will not survive and it is definitely in its final days,” noting that “Hizbullah will not become more open to dialogue if the regime in Syria falls.” In an interview on Al-Arabiya satellite TV network, Geagea said: “Hizbullah will not become more open to dialogue if the regime in Syria falls. Our hand is extended to Hizbullah all the time and I believe that there will be a major impact for the regime's fall but it will take time to manifest itself on the ground.” Commenting on a recent statement by Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, Geagea said “remarks about ‘a world war if Assad falls’ are the greatest evidence that General Aoun feels the threat the Syrian regime's fall would subject him to.” Asked about Monday’s visit to Beirut by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council chief Saeed Jalili, Geagea said: “Dialogue with Mr. Jalili over a serious solution to the issue of Hizbullah's arms might be more effective than dialogue with the Lebanese parties.” “Whatever Mr. Jalili’s intention might be, we in Lebanon cannot comply with any of the demands he is carrying,” Geagea added. Asked how the March 14 forces were affecting the government’s decisions concerning the Syrian crisis, Geagea said: “Had it not been for the effect of March 14's opposition, the current government would have declared its total support for the regime in Syria, just like Iran, and it would have maybe backed the regime logistically and militarily and in security and foreign policy.” Asked about the government’s so-called self-dissociation policy towards the Syrian crisis, the LF leader said: “In principle, the self-dissociation policy is not bad, but unfortunately the Lebanese government declared this policy and did not act accordingly, whether at the international forums or domestically.” “Where is self-dissociation in the latest deportations?” Geagea wondered, in reference to Lebanon’s latest controversial deportations of 14 Syrians to their strife-torn country. The General Directorate of General Security has stressed that the deportations were not politically motivated, noting that those deported were convicted of crimes committed in Lebanon. A Human Rights Watch representative in Beirut said some of the deportees had expressed fears of persecution on their return, adding that one of them might be a political activist. Asked about the recent kidnap of 48 Iranians in Damascus by a Syrian armed group, Geagea said he is “against kidnap operations.” “In the context of the grand confrontation between the rebels and the Syrian regime, kidnap operations are taking place in a bid to exert pressure on Iran,” he noted. Asked how the March 14 forces and the Progressive Socialist Party are helping the Syrian opposition, Geagea said they are offering moral and political support. “Without any equivocation, we cannot but support the popular uprising in Syria. At the political level, we are supporting them through our Arab and international relations and telling all sides that what is happening is a popular revolution, rather than acts by terrorist groups, and that the world must stand by this revolution.” “We’re not doing more than that, since we are citizens who live in a state and obey its laws,” Geagea added.