BEIRUT: Hezbollah official Ghaleb Abu Zainab said Wednesday the memorandum of understanding with MP Michel Aoun’s party has come to serve interests of the entire country, saying the agreement helped Lebanon overcome several difficulties.
“We want to emphasize the extent that the understanding has reached, which is that it has come to serve the interests of all Lebanese, because its vision and the main principles it is based on represent a main factor in building Lebanon's strength, and it has also contributed to overcoming difficulties and preventing unrest surrounding Lebanon from reaching the domestic level,” Abu Ghaleb told reporters in Rabieh.
His remarks came after Abu Zainab, heading a Hezbollah delegation, visited Aoun for the annual commemoration of the agreement signed between Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah and the head of the Free Patriotic Movement.
The MOU primarily stipulated the safe return of Lebanese who collaborated with Israel prior to the withdrawal of the Jewish state from the southern region.
It also noted the delineation of the poorly demarcated border with Syria, the disarmament of Palestinian refugee camps and that political parties should distance themselves from regional conflicts.
Since then, Aoun’s party and the resistance group have maintained that their alliance was too firm to be damaged by minor rifts along the way. The two are also in a wider coalition with Marada Movement and Amal Movement party led by Speaker Nabih Berri.
“In the past years, we have faced very difficult circumstances but thanks to this understanding, we were able to overcome many issues , tarting with the 2006 Israeli aggression on Lebanon when members of the resistance and the Free Patriotic Movement stood firm, ensuring a balance between the strength of the resistance and the domestic situation which exhausted Israelis at the end,” Abu Zainab said.
Meanwhile, deputy Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said Wednesday that Lebanon’s strength is partly due to that understanding which he said “broke confessional and sectarian barriers and proved that various partners in Lebanon who have different visions and belong to different religions and sects can find common ground to build an independent, sovereign and free nation.
“The value of the understanding is that it did not remain on paper but it was applied in technical work via electoral alliances and addressing Israeli aggression on Lebanon,” the Hezbollah official said.
He also added that the MOU is based on a collection of ideas that concern both parties as well as Lebanon.
According to Qassem, the agreement stipulates the resistance’s role in fully liberating Lebanon’s land, and preserving sovereignty.
“We have similar viewpoints with regards to all challenges faced by the country from the issue over a new electoral law, the Syrian crisis, or participation in the government within the framework of the tripartite formula of the people, the army, and the resistance,” he said.
Hezbollah has supported the FPM’s decision to support a draft electoral law by the Orthodox Gathering which was staunchly rejected by many including the Future Movement, while the two have voiced support for Syrian President Bashar Assad in the face of the uprising.