BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea accused Tehran of obstructing his presidential bid out of concern that he would limit its influence in Lebanon.
“I believe that Tehran constitutes an obstacle for me to reach Baabda (presidential) Palace, because my presence there means Tehran will not have the same big influence that it enjoys in Lebanon at the time being,” Geagea said in an interview published Thursday in daily ash-Sharq.
Geagea, the March 14 presidential candidate, said the LF was one of the two biggest Christian political groups in Lebanon and that “it was normal” that the party would seek the most senior and sensitive positions in the state.
“When I decided to enter the presidential race, I did not take into consideration which foreign parties would accept or oppose my candidature, but I was motivated by Lebanese concerns, notably to bring Lebanon out of the crisis which has been going on for more than 10 years,” Geagea said.
Vowing to keep up his bid to become president, Geagea said “regardless of how difficult the presidency would be in these difficult times, it won’t be harder than spending 11 years in an underground cell.”
“Despite the hurdles, we will not abdicate,” he added.
Geagea served 11 years in prison as part of four life sentences for political murders during the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war, including the 1987 killing of then-Prime Minister Rashid Karami. He spent most of his jail time in solitary confinement in an underground defense ministry cell.
He was freed under an amnesty law passed by Parliament in 2005 after Syria was forced to end its military presence in Lebanon in the wake of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination.
Geagea has always proclaimed his innocence and said he was victimized for opposing Syria.
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