Lebanese president says country has right to fight Israeli ‘aggression’

Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun says his country has the right to defend itself from Israeli “aggression.”

The Lebanese president is addressing the Arab League director-general Ahmed Abu el-Gheit on a visit to Beirut.

“Lebanon was able to face the Israeli aggressions since 1978 until the 2006 war. It was able to liberate its land. Israeli threats are still ongoing; the Lebanese have the right to fight and thwart it with all available means.”

At the same time, Aoun distances himself from the Hezbollah terrorist group and all regional conflicts.

“Lebanon cannot tolerate a suggestion that the Lebanese government is a partner in terrorist acts. Lebanon’s stance declared through its representative at the Arab League yesterday expressed a national will,” he says, according to the Lebanese Naharnet. “Lebanon is not responsible for the Arab and regional conflicts that some Arab states are witnessing. Lebanon did not carry out any aggression against anyone and it should not pay the price of these conflicts.”

Arab foreign ministers blasted Hezbollah in the Arab League resolution on Sunday, saying they would hold it “responsible for supporting terrorism and terrorist organizations in Arab countries with modern weapons and ballistic missiles.”

The concluding statement demanded that Hezbollah stop intervening in regional conflicts and spreading extremism and sectarianism.

— with AFP