Lebanese President Michel Aoun defended Hezbollah on Tuesday, saying the Party has no influence on Lebanon’s security situation.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Aoun stressed that the Shiite party’s position inside Lebanon is completely different from its view abroad.
“Hezbollah has no influence, in any way, on the security situation … As for the southern border, there’s cooperation between the army and UNIFIL forces,” he stressed.
The President added that Hezbollah is a party that owns weapons and liberated southern Lebanon from the Israeli occupation.
“It is made up of Lebanese from the south who suffered from the Israeli occupation. Resisting occupation is not terrorism,” he added.
When asked why the demonstrations held in October 2019 to demand radical changes to the system, have not succeeded, the President said Lebanon’s system is complex, and is based on consensual democracy, which makes it difficult to find solutions acceptable to all.
Aoun, who is on a visit to Italy, met on Tuesday with his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella, at the Quirinale Palace in Rome.
He thanked Italy for its permanent solidarity with Lebanon, and saw that the country insists, despite all the difficulties, to heal its wounds, especially from the repercussions of several crises.
