Lebanon suspends warrant for returning opposition leader Aoun
BEIRUT (AFP) – A Lebanese court suspended an arrest warrant against exiled Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun, paving the way for his return from France which many fear could disrupt Lebanon’s fragile political structure.
The court also decided to delay a ruling in a 2003 case against Aoun, who is due to return to Beirut on Saturday, over comments that were deemed to have damaged Lebanon’s relations with Syria.
“The criminal court of Beirut decided to freeze the arrest warrant issued in absentia against General Aoun on October 24, 2003, as well as its terms, and to postpone a verdict in this case until July 5, 2005,” a judicial source said Thursday.
“The criminal court of Beirut decided to freeze the arrest warrant issued in absentia against General Aoun on October 24, 2003, as well as its terms, and to postpone a verdict in this case until July 5, 2005,” a judicial source said Thursday.
In testimony to the US congress in September 2003 the staunch anti-Syrian former army commander, who headed a caretaker military government during the 1975-1990 civil war, accused Syria of masterminding the assassinations of two Lebanese presidents during the war.
His remarks helped pave the way for Washington’s adoption of sanctions against Syria.
Lebanon has said his statements were damaging to its relations with its political masters in Syria, which completed last week a military pullout from Lebanon after a presence lasting 29 years.
On Wednesday, a court dropped three other charges against Aoun in a case dating back from 1990 which included usurping power for staying at the helm of a caretaker government even after the election of then president Elias Hrawi, embezzling funds and unlawful political activity.
But now with Syria out of Lebanon, Aoun’s expected return is raising problems in a country mired in complex political and religious sensitivities that is gearing up for much-anticipated legislative elections from May 29.
The Free Patriotic Movement which Aoun heads is determined to overhaul Lebanese politics and impose secularism, and he is also eyeing the presidency.
“We must change the political habits of Lebanon in order to transform it into a modern state,” Aoun said in one of the numerous interviews he has given ahead of his much-touted return.
He has also repeatedly accused unidentified members of the Lebanese opposition of “treachery”.
On Tuesday he renewed his accusations and said that some opposition leaders had secretly accepted a controversial electoral law passed under Syrian domination in 2000 unfavourable to the Christians.
The opposition, Christians and Muslim alike, have publicly called for Aoun’s return, but the two sides failed to agree on a united agenda for a smooth political transition after the Syrian pullout to prepare for the elections.
“Lebanese politicians are in a panic mode,” a Western diplomat based in Beirut told AFP.
Charles Ghostine, an ex-official of the dissolved Lebanese Forces Christian militia which fought Aoun’s group during the civil war, said Aoun was the only opposition leader who has vocally stood up for political reforms.
“He is against the current political leadership,” said Ghostine. “In the Christian camp the same political families control the scene. Positions are obtained as an inheritance.”
Dory Chamoun, head of the National Liberal Party, another Christian opposition party, and son of former president Camille Chamoun, Aoun is a loner.
“Aoun always worked alone in order to distinguish himself. He wants to impose his will,” Chamoun said, warning that if Aoun “fails to rein in his young supporters, his comeback will have negative repercussions”.
Supporters of the balding 70-year-old are already planning celebrations for his return and credit him for having rid Lebanon of Syrian troops.
Some even compare him General Charles de Gaulle who made a triumphant comeback returning to a liberated France in 1945 after the last German soldier marched out.
