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G. Hawi Wants Aoun
Back, Geagea Out, M. Murr
Finished
August 4, 2003
George Hawi is proposing
a broad-based national
conference with Gen. Aoun
and Samir Geagea present
to end ethnic and sectarian
divisions still plaguing
the country 13 years after
the end of the civil war.
He also sketched a scenario
to end the war of the
Murr brothers in Metn.
President Lahoud would
host the proposed parley
to which secular and religious
leaders from across the
political, social and
economic spectra would
be invited. And Syrian
President Bashar Assad
would also co-chair the
meeting to offer the process
added credibility. Naturally,
this would require a return
of General Michel Aoun
from exile and the release
of the imprisoned commander
of the defunct Lebanese
Forces militia, Hawi said
in an interview published
Monday in An Nahar.
On a smaller scale, there
is one solution to the
controversy in his native
Btighrin between the two
brothers, the powerful
Michel Murr and his brother,
Gabriel – that they
both resign from politics.
"It is time we tell
them to spare us their
wars," said the former
Communist Party leader.
Hawi saw no contradiction
between his ideological
beliefs and the association
with Qornet Shahwan, which
mainly comprises right-wing
Christian politicians.
But at present, his attention
is focused on his so-called
initiative.
After almost giving up
on obtaining an appointment
with Lahoud, Hawi called
on Brig. Rustom Ghazale,
head of the Syrian military
intelligence in Lebanon,
who warmed up to the national
initiative. Ghazale intervened
to secure him an appointment
with Lahoud. He attributed
Lahoud's initial reluctance
to "Orthodox barriers,"
an allusion to his political
differences with Michel
Murr, a close ally of
the president.
In suggesting that Murr
bow out of politics, he
said there could be a
prior agreement by consensus
that allows his son, Elias
Murr, to replace him uncontested
for an Orthodox seat in
Metn. Gabriel Murr would
be appeased by reopening
his shuttered MTV network
As for the older Murr,
Hawi said, he could simply
devote his time to writing
his memoirs and running
philanthropic activities
"since God has blessed
him with so much wealth."
As for the national reconciliation
process, he said, this
would aim to turn Lebanon
into a national homeland
for all Lebanese, rather
than "a confederation
of different sects."
He said as a gesture of
goodwill, he proposed
to the president that
Geagea's conditions of
incarceration at the Defense
Ministry be eased –
an unlikely proposal from
a man that once considered
the Christian warlord
his mortal civil war foe.
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