Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea described President Emile Lahoud over the weekend as a "mine planted by the Syrian tutelage." "Lahoud is not the biggest and most threatening mine, but he is the passage to defuse other mines," Geagea said during a speech Saturday to mark the 12th anniversary of his arrest. "Those who are trying to keep the president in power must bear responsibility before God and history," he warned, "for the continuation of the political crisis that has gripped the country since Syrian troops withdrew last April." The LF leader, speaking to hundreds of supporters at the BIEL exhibition center in Downtown Beirut over the weekend, added that "a weak president who does not represent the Lebanese people should not be allowed to remain in power."
"Although the Lebanese Forces and their allies in the March 14 coalition have achieved independence and sovereignty, a lot more work remains to be done," he said, warning that "the road ahead is long." Geagea assured the gathering, however, that there would be "no return to the bygone era of Syrian domination over its small neighbor."
"There is no fear for the future," he declared. "We will continue despite the obstacles in our way."