A national unity government will end Lebanon's political impasse, Lebanese leader Michel Aoun tells Omayma Abdel-Latif in Beirut The head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) that leads the Lebanese opposition has called on the Lebanese government to step down to allow for a national unity government to take over. Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly at his headquarters in Al-Rabyia, north of Beirut, General Michel Aoun held Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora's government to be solely responsible for Israel's 34-day war on Lebanon that left more than 1,000 dead and hundreds injured. "This government did not act responsibly during the war. It is the worst government Lebanon has seen in its recent history," Aoun said. He pointed out that during the war the state "was absent". It failed to address "the catastrophic situation" of at least one million refugees. "I think the choices they made in terms of their approach to the resistance and the way they ran the political and diplomatic battles were an utter failure." Further, "if [the Siniora government] had adopted the declaration of understanding we signed with Hizbullah, this war could have been avoided," he said. "Our agreement had a clear- cut exit strategy for the issue of Hizbullah's arms. They instead chose confrontation and were so aggressive in dealing with a movement that is an essential party in the political process," Aoun added. Aoun, 73, who heads a secular party with 21 seats in the Lebanese parliament, came under intensive pressure for his pro-resistance stand during the 34-day war. His decision to stand by the resistance movement was a collective one, he said. "There were two options: either Hizbullah wins or loses the war. But it was not just a war against Hizbullah. The Shia community was also heavily targeted. In both cases, we have to co-exist with them. We could not live with an Israeli victory." Aoun defended Hizbullah rejecting claims that the resistance movement was part of a Syrian- Iranian axis or that the movement was acting as a state within a state. Aoun's support for Hizbullah during the war came at a personal price. Sources close to the FPM leader spoke of "weeks of terror" when Aoun's headquarters was showered with leaflets dropped from Israeli planes warning that his headquarters would be bombed. Aoun was also subject to what he described "a vile campaign" from his detractors who claimed that his popularity rates within the Christian street went down during the war. Aoun, who sounded confident of his status, said that different polls carried out by the FPM suggested otherwise. Indeed, many reports speak of his rising popularity among larger sections of Lebanese Sunnis and Shia. In response to Aoun's call, Saad Al-Hariri, head of Tayyar Al-Mustaqbal and leader of the majority in parliament, dismissed the need for a new government. "It is this government -- the Siniora government -- which brought the war to an end. It will drive the Israelis out of Lebanese territory and will carry out reconstruction work. I see no need to change it," Al-Hariri told reporters Monday. Aoun dismissed Al-Hariri's remarks as "irresponsible" and lacking "any sense of wisdom or political maturity". Further, Aoun warns that if a new government is not formed soon, "it will lead to a big crisis in Lebanon." One of the factors, according to Aoun, making a change of government essential is "information" he received which suggested that some members in the Siniora government "knew beforehand" about Israeli plans to disarm Hizbullah. In interview Aoun declined to elaborate further on this suggestion that some Lebanese forces were complacent about (or perhaps even complicit with) the Israeli war on Lebanon. "Valuable information," he said, "will be made public at the right time." As to whether the Siniora government is genuinely working towards lifting the Israeli blockade of Lebanon imposed since the beginning of the war, Aoun is doubtful. "The current government is no more than a tool of pressure on the Lebanese people to accept any rough deal the international community and Israel are offering them." In particular, Aoun said statements by French President Jacques Chirac and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan about a possible "second round" of hostilities were no more than "psychological warfare aimed at terrorising the Lebanese people into accepting whatever is given to them." Aoun concluded: "this is going to cost Al-Siniora and his team much." Aoun's calls for a national unity government came only days after Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbullah's secretary general, spoke in a television interview aired Monday about the need for a national unity government to put an end to what he described as "the sense of frustration prevailing among a large section of Christians" who feel that their representation is not reflected in this government. It is point that Aoun acknowledges: "True, the Christians are not well represented in this government. We have one third of the Christian votes and 21 seats in parliament but no members in government." The FPM head added: "There is indeed an imbalance in representation of not just the Christians but the nationalists in general, because the parliamentary majority does not necessarily reflect the popular majority." Some pro-government commentators viewed Aoun-Hizbullah stand on a national unity government to be the beginning of a bigger sea change that could extend throughout the political system in post-war Lebanon. Dori Shamoun, a Lebanese Christian politician, has suggested that Hizbullah wanted to "capitalise on the victory to set up an Islamic Shia state in Lebanon'. Aoun explained: "some politicians use Hizbullah as a card to create an atmosphere of fear among Christians to cover up for their own mistakes and misdemeanours." Aoun dismisses that civil strife in Lebanon is "an option" for any force. Aoun, who headed the Lebanese army during the early 1990s and fought hard against Syria's presence in Lebanon for over 15 years, said that from a military point of view Hizbullah was victorious. "The fact that we did not succumb to Israel's brutal force and deterred it from continuing its aggression on Lebanon is in itself a victory."
