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Syria, Lahoud Regime,
Seeking to Get Geagea
Back to the Fold
May 12, 2001
Syria and officials of
the Lahoud regime appear
to have given the approval
nod for direct contacts
with jailed Lebanese Forces
Commander Samir Geagea
sparking speculation that
they may be trying to
get the maverick former
Christian warlord back
to the fold.
Reliable sources told
Naharnet the direct contacts
with Geagea at his prison
in the defense ministry
have been under way for
some time through an LF
go-between. The intermediary
was identified as Richard
Jreisaty, who was in charge
of foreign and diplomatic
affairs of the LF before
it was outlawed by the
government in 1994. His
apparent mission was to
"discuss ways of
resolving the state of
affairs that landed Geagea
in jail."
Jreisaty has been allowed
to see Geagea twice so
far: the first on April
4, which lasted three
and one half hours and
the second May 1, which
lasted 75 minutes, according
to the Naharnet sources.
"Jreisaty sought
to persuade Geagea of
the need to end the state
of belligerency with Syria
and the estrangement with
President Lahoud as a
prelude to go into details
leading to resolve Geagea's
plight," one source
told Naharnet.
Geagea's response was
inconclusive. He had shown
a clear inclination to
reject the offer, fearing
attempts to befriend him
after spending seven years
in jail were merely a
flank attack to abort
Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir's
drive to regain Lebanon's
sovereignty and freedom
of decision.
Geagea associates stress,
however, that his mind
was made up not to accept
what he had refused seven
years ago.
"Geagea is not at
all willing to be used
to stab the Patriarch
in the back even at the
expense of staying on
in jail," one Geagea
associate told Naharnet.
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