Republican Thorn Ted Cruz Announces Run For President

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Sen. Ted Cruz, wife Heidi, and two daughters Catherine, 4, left, and Caroline, 6, practice waving on stage at Liberty University before Cruz's Monday launch presidential campaign launch. Andrew Harnik/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Andrew Harnik/AP

Sen. Ted Cruz, wife Heidi, and two daughters Catherine, 4, left, and Caroline, 6, practice waving on stage at Liberty University before Cruz's Monday launch presidential campaign launch.

Andrew Harnik/AP

The 2016 presidential campaign has its first official candidate. Republican Ted Cruz jumped into the race for the presidency, announcing his intentions in a tweet at 12:09 am EDT Monday morning.

"I'm running for President and I hope to earn your support!" the firebrand Texas senator tweeted simply with an embedded video.

"It's a time for truth," Cruz says in the 30-second video that shows pictures of Americana — baseball, the Golden Gate and Brooklyn bridges, men walking in a factory. "A time to rise to the challenge, just as Americans have always done. I believe in America and her people and I believe we can stand up and restore our promise. It's going to take a new generation of courageous conservatives to help make America great again. And I'm ready to stand with you to lead the fight."

Though several candidates are testing the presidential waters in what is expected to be another crowded Republican field, Cruz is the first major candidate to outright declare he is running.

Cruz trails in early presidential primary polls. He pulled in just 4 percent of Republican primary voters in the latest CNN/ORC poll. An NBC/WSJ poll found Republicans split on whether they could support Cruz — 40 to 38 percent.

Sen. Ted Cruz kisses his wife Heidi during a walk through Sunday night at Liberty University before Cruz's Monday presidential campaign announcement. Andrew Harnik/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Andrew Harnik/AP

But the ideological hardliner and his team hope he can capitalize on his popularity with the Tea Party and his reputation as an outspoken fighter of both Democrats and the Republican establishment.

Cruz is set to hold a more traditional announcement event Monday at Liberty University in Virginia. The setting is emblematic of the path Cruz hopes to carve out to the nomination. Liberty claims to be the largest evangelical Christian university in the world. It was founded by evangelical pastor Jerry Falwell in 1971.

For Cruz, that means a focus of his campaign will be on rallying religious conservatives. And that's Iowa and South Carolina, two key early states where the number of voters in the GOP nominating contests are overwhelmingly white and a majority evangelical.

Entrance polls in 2012, for example, found that 99 percent of voters in the Iowa Republican caucuses were 99 percent white and 57 percent described themselves as born -again or evangelical Christians. In South Carolina, it was 98 percent white and 65 percent evangelical or born-again, according to exit polls.

Pat Robertson, another evangelical pastor, was the first to capitalize on the strength of the evangelical vote in Iowa. In 1988, "Robertson's Army" helped him past Vice President George H.W. Bush for a second-place finish in the caucuses. Ever since, GOP candidates have been trying to replicate what Robertson was able to pull off.

But that well-worn path is likely to have some traffic on it this year, including from the two most recent Iowa winners — former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, both of whom are seriously considering running again.

Since bursting onto the scene in 2012 after his GOP primary upset victory against a former Texas lieutenant governor, Cruz has struck out not just against President Obama and Democrats, but also Republican leaders.

He has endorsed outsider Tea Party candidates against sitting U.S. senators, even while serving as vice chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the organization tasked with electing — and reelecting — GOP senators.

Cruz gained notoriety in 2013 for a 21-hour speech on the Senate floor against a government-funding bill because of his opposition to the health-care law. To fill time, he even wound up reading Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham.

That was something Democrats decried as ironic given that the lead character went on to actually like the title dish after trying it.

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Cruz has also rankled Republican leaders, going around them to push for tactics leadership found politically unpalatable.

In 2013, Cruz worked with hard liners in the House to oppose plans to re-open the government after the partial shutdown — a political crisis some Republicans accused Cruz of orchestrating.

Cruz also opposed the year-end 2014 spending bill. He wanted stronger language that would have defunded the president's executive action on immigration.

Hezbollah unyielding on backing Aoun for presidency

BEIRUT: Hezbollah Sunday stood firm on its support for MP Michel Aoun for the presidency, defying local and foreign calls for the election of a consensus candidate to end the deadlock that has left Lebanon without a head of state for nearly 10 months.

In sharp contrast, the Future Movement warned that Aoun’s insistence on his presidential bid was blocking efforts to reach an agreement between the rival political factions over the presidency.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said Future’s dialogue with Hezbollah was making progress, but the presidential election is “a regional issue.”

“The dialogue must constitute a gateway for the logic of compromise. But it should be accompanied by a [favorable] regional situation,” Machnouk said during a meeting with Middle East experts and researchers at leading think tank centers in Washington.

Machnouk, currently on a four-day visit to Washington for talks with U.S. officials on fighting terrorism, said: “Our political party [Future Movement] has been able to put an end to the proliferation of terrorist ideology within the Sunni society. The talk – myth – about an environment accommodating [jihadis] no longer exists.”

MP Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah’s bloc in Parliament, said his party was confident that the presidential vacuum would eventually be filled with a candidate who would safeguard the resistance.

“We are now in a phase in which the country is oscillating between a presidential vacancy, obstruction of constitutional institutions and the threat of takfiri terrorism,” Raad said in a memorial ceremony in the southern town of Kafra, referring to Syria-based jihadis threatening to destabilize Lebanon. “But eventually, we will fill the presidential vacancy with [a president] who can safeguard the recovery path and the resistance.”

He added that Hezbollah has chosen Aoun as its sole candidate for the presidency and that the March 14 coalition, which is backing Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea for the country’s top Christian post, must ponder this option and decide.

“There is an equation in the country that requires national understanding in order to fill the [presidential] vacancy. We have presented our viewpoint on this understanding and named our candidate whom we assume will serve the national path of the resistance, recovery, internal security and stability,” Raad said, in a clear allusion to Aoun, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement which is linked in a political alliance with Hezbollah. “The other [March 14] side will have to contemplate, think and decide.”

The March 14 coalition, led by the Future Movement, has rejected Aoun’s candidacy, arguing that he cannot be viewed as a consensus candidate for the presidency because of his alliance with Hezbollah.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, head of the Future Movement, has called for the election of a consensus candidate as the only way to end the presidential vacuum.

But a defiant Aoun has vowed not to withdraw from the presidential race, contending that because he headed the largest Christian bloc in Parliament, he was the most qualified candidate for the presidency.

Future MP Mohammad Qabbani warned that Aoun’s insistence on seeking the presidency was blocking an agreement between the March 8 and March 14 parties to elect a president.

“So far, Gen. Michel Aoun is still upholding his candidacy [for the presidency] on the basis that ‘either I will be elected president or no one else will.’ This is what is obstructing any presidential agreement,” Qabbani told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.

He blamed Iran for blocking the election of a president. “The red light in the presidential election issue is coming from Iran,” Qabbani said. He added that electing a successor to former President Michel Sleiman should be done “without any foreign intervention or influence.”

Geagea also accused Iran of obstructing the presidential vote. “The reason for the [presidential] vacuum is a very clear Iranian decision: Either the election of a president fully supportive [of Iran] or no presidential election will be held. This is what happened,” Geagea said in a YouTube interview.

He charged that Hezbollah was preventing the building of the Lebanese state. “What is blocking the rise of the state in Lebanon is the presence of Hezbollah as a statelet within a state,” he said.

Separately, Prime Minister Tammam Salam said Arab solidarity is “a very pressing issue “in light of dangers threatening the region’s states and their peoples. Speaking to visitors at his Mseitbeh residence, he said Lebanon would raise the issue of solidarity during the Arab summit to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on March 28. – with additional reporting by Hasan Lakkis

Rai plans initiative to end presidential vacuum

Fed up with the lingering vacuum in the country’s top Christian post, Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai is preparing to soon launch a plan aimed at ending the deadlock that has left the country without a president for nearly 10 months, sources close to the cleric said. Refusing to give details of the plan, the sources said that Rai has held intensive contacts in the past few days with foreign ambassadors in Lebanon and the U.N. in a bid to resolve the presidential crisis as soon as possible.

The sources did not rule out the possibility of Rai resuming his meetings with the country’s four top Maronite leaders – Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, Kataeb Party leader Amine Gemayel and Marada Movement head MP Sleiman Frangieh – in Bkirki to discuss ways to break the presidential deadlock.

Rai’s talks with the four leaders in the past failed to bridge the wide gap between them over the election of a successor to former President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year mandate ended on May 25. While Aoun’s bid for the presidency is supported by Hezbollah and its March 8 allies, Geagea is the March 14 coalition-backed candidate for the top post.

In addition to possible meetings with the four Maronite leaders, Rai might also consult with the country’s Muslim leaders, including Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam, MP Walid Jumblatt, and officials from the Future Movement and Hezbollah on the presidential crisis, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the local political scene and regional powers are waiting for the outcome of the U.S.-Iranian negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.

If a nuclear agreement is not signed between Iran and Western powers, the strategic tug-of-war will go on in the region, from Yemen up to Lebanon, Lebanese sources said.

While Lebanon will be shielded from the security repercussions of the regional turmoil, the country will continue to be plagued by political paralysis and obstruction because none of the players are ready to give up their cards, the sources said.

They added that in tandem with the Lebanese Army’s ongoing battle against terrorism, the internal political confrontation will heat up in the next few months, with Aoun expected to be at the center of the battle over the presidential election. Elements of this battle have begun to emerge in the crisis over plans to extend the terms of military and security chiefs. Aoun strongly opposes the incumbents remaining in their positions.

According to the sources, Aoun considers an agreement between the Americans and Iranians over Tehran’s nuclear program to be in his interest, because such an accord would be seen as a victory for the “resistance axis” (Iran, Syria and Hezbollah).

All efforts to talk Aoun into abandoning his presidential bid have failed, thus leaving only the possibility of external pressure being exerted on him to persuade him to step aside, the sources said.

According to the sources, Aoun is facing three options:

First, the adoption of Aoun’s candidacy for the presidency by various political parties after the FPM’s dialogue with the Future Movement and the LF pave the way for this move. However, this possibility is very weak given the regional signals which favor a compromise president.

Second, Aoun would choose and name Lebanon’s next president in exchange for obtaining minor political gains in power.

Third, a Lebanese, Arab, regional and international consensus would be reached over a centrist presidential candidate, who would be imposed on Aoun, similar to what happened in Doha in 2008, when rival political leaders agreed unanimously to elect Michel Sleiman as a consensus president.

Following U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement on the need to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar Assad as part of a settlement of the Syrian conflict, the sources said they expect the election of a consensus president who would not be loyal to the regime in Syria, but at the same time would not be hostile to it.

Some countries have begun adapting themselves to have the same policy. Diplomatic sources said that France, for instance, plans to appoint diplomat Manuel Bon as its ambassador in Lebanon.

Bon, who maintains strong ties with lawmakers from Aoun’s parliamentary Change and Reform bloc, will probably restore channels of communication with Hezbollah, because talking to the party means entering into a dialogue with the axis it represents.

Despite its negative stance on Assad staying in power, the U.S.-Iranian negotiations and Hezbollah’s role in Lebanon, Syria and the region in general, France wants eventually to preserve its regional role if developments lead to a peace settlement in the Middle East. After all, Lebanon has long been viewed as an important part of France’s foreign policy.

Details undecided in hostage swap talks

BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities and Nusra Front jihadis have yet to agree on the number of prisoners the militants want freed in return for releasing captured Lebanese servicemen, a representative of the hostages’ families said Sunday. Negotiating parties have yet to agree on technical details such as the number of prisoners demanded in return for the servicemen and the method of carrying out the swap, Hussein Youssef, the father of captive servicemen Mohammad Youssef, told The Daily Star.

Youssef’s comments came one day after Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, the head of the General Security who is tasked by the government with negotiating the release of the hostages, cited progress in talks.

“We have come a long way in the negotiations over the captive servicemen and no dramatic developments are anticipated,” Ibrahim told NBN TV Saturday.

“Any case could see both breakthroughs and setbacks,” Ibrahim said. “But according to my experience, the setbacks [in this case] have become kind of unlikely.”

The positive developments in the case make it unlikely that the execution of hostages would resume, Ibrahim said.

“Abbas Ibrahim has told us that the difficult part is behind us and what is left is to negotiate are minor issues,” Youssef confirmed.

At least 25 Lebanese soldiers and policemen are still held captive by ISIS and the Nusra Front in the northeastern border town of Arsal after over 30 servicemen were kidnapped during a five-day battle in August.

While the Nusra Front is demonstrating flexibility in negotiations and in accepting a swap deal, ISIS is taking a more hard-line stance. Nusra holds around 16 of the 25 captives.

So far, the Nusra Front has shot dead two hostages and ISIS has beheaded two others. Nusra has also released eight.

Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi Saturday vowed to “bring back all the captives held by terrorist groups whatever the price of the sacrifices.”

Youssef said that government officials involved in negotiating the servicemen’s release have relayed the possibility of a “breakthrough” materializing at the end of the month.

Lebanon has reportedly agreed to swap Islamist prisoners for the captive serviceman held hostage by jihadis, as part of a settlement that may also include a ransom payment.

Families of the captives are blocking a major road in Downtown Beirut as a means to pressure the government to intensify efforts.

After holding protests and blocking roads almost on a daily basis in previous months, the families scaled down their action in light of reports that negotiations had made progress.

The daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Sunday that the resumption of Qatar’s role as a mediator between the Lebanese government and the Nusra Front has led negotiations to take on a more serious turn. – The Daily Star

Jumblatt pessimistic about Middle East after Hollande meet

BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt expressed pessimism about the future of the Middle East, while praising France’s support for Syria’s uprising after a meeting with French President Francois Hollande over the weekend. “It’s a long fratricidal war between Arabs,” Jumblatt said, referring to the Syrian civil war, after his meeting with Hollande in Paris Saturday. “The Fertile Crescent is being destroyed and I see no end in the near future but terrible suffering for Arab people.”

The PSP chief lauded the “brave position” adopted by Paris with regard to the Syria crisis and the violence in the Middle East. “[France’s] position against the Syrian regime is very clear, and it stands with the Syrian people.”

Jumblatt compared the destruction of the French village of Oradour-sur-Glane by the Nazis in World War II and the destruction inflicted on Syria. “Today, the [number of] Syrian cities and villages destroyed surpass the destruction of Oradour by 10, even 100 times,” he said.

The Druze leader is an outspoken critic of the Syrian regime and a staunch supporter of the uprising.

Last week, Jumblatt strongly criticized comments made by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry when he announced his country was exploring ways to pressure the Syrian president into agreeing to talks.

The war in neighboring Syria has led to a huge influx of refugees to Lebanon. Their numbers now exceed 1.2 million. “Helping refugees is a moral duty,” Jumblatt said.

“France and other countries are supporting them financially, and it is our duty too, since they don’t have any means to return to their homes. The regime destroyed everything they have and this is why we should take care of them.”

The Chouf lawmaker also expressed his opposition to the establishment of camps for Syrian refugees in Lebanon on the Syrian side of the border.

French sources told the Al-Mustaqbal newspaper that the meeting came at the request of Hollande.

The latter wanted to inquire about Jumblatt’s opinion on Lebanon’s 10-month presidential vacuum and other developments unfolding in the region.

“We looked into France’s support for Lebanon’s security and the Lebanese Army,” Jumblatt said. “We hope that the Lebanese problems won’t be solved in France. We should, as Lebanese, solve our problems by ourselves.”

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French minister meets Syrians in Sidon

SIDON, Lebanon: A French minister on Sunday toured Sidon’s Ouzai complex, which hosts hundreds of Syrian families, reiterating her country’s support for refugee communities. Accompanied by French Ambassador Patrice Paoli, Annick Girardin, French minister of state for development and francophonie, inspected the complex’s infrastructure, sewage system, educational facilities and children’s playground.

A UNHCR field officer and representatives from Premier Urgence, a U.N.-partner agency that supervises the complex, were also present.

The delegation began their tour at a playground built with funding from the French government.

Girardin, who met and played with children, urged them to focus on their studies.

She later held a meeting with refugee families to hear their concerns. Those present said they were worried most about being evicted.

Syrian refugee families have been allowed to stay in the building until the end of the year in an agreement between the UNHCR and the building’s owner, following disputes.

The Ouzai complex is the largest center hosting Syrians in Sidon.

Ambassador Paoli promised refugees that he would continue to support their cause and assured them they would not be burdened with rent expenses.

Some of the children who met with Girardin explained that they have been separated from their parents for three years now, and asked to be moved to the Turkish-Syrian border to make reuniting with them easier.

Girardin expressed her concern for the status of Syrian refugee families but said she was hopeful they could overcome the difficulties they face.

She stressed that France, the EU, UNHCR, local partners and civil society groups were working to reduce the impact of the crisis by responding to the families’ needs.

The First Lady’s Travel Journal: Make Your Own Mark on Our World

This post is part of a series authored by First Lady Michelle Obama to share her visit to Japan and Cambodia and the Let Girls Learn initiative with young people in the U.S. Find out how you can get involved at letgirlslearn.peacecorps.gov.

On this trip, I had the pleasure of standing with leaders who are making historic investments in girls’ education — and I had the privilege of meeting extraordinary girls and the community leaders, volunteers and teachers who are working so hard to help them go to school and pursue their dreams. Along the way, I experienced the rich culture and history of two fascinating countries.

First Lady Michelle waves upon departure from Siem Reap Airport in Siem, Reap Cambodia on March 22, 2015. The First Lady traveled to Japan and Cambodia as part of the “Let Girls Learn” initiative. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)

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The First Lady’s Travel Journal: Touring Angkor Wat

This post is part of a series authored by First Lady Michelle Obama to share her visit to Japan and Cambodia and the Let Girls Learn initiative with young people in the U.S.

After visiting the Let Girls Learn training, I traveled to Angkor Wat, a massive, ancient temple located just outside of Siem Reap. Angkor Wat was built in the early twelfth century, and it still stands as the largest religious monument on earth. It has become known as a national symbol for Cambodia — it’s even on Cambodia’s flag. Angkor Wat was originally built to celebrate the Hindu god Vishnu and then later became a Buddhist temple site. It is located in what was the capital of the ancient Khmer Empire here in Cambodia. Back then, temples, homes and farms stretched for miles around, and people created elaborate irrigation structures to bring water from rivers to farmers’ fields.

After meeting with these remarkable young women, I dropped by one of the very first Let Girls Learn trainings for Peace Corps Volunteers and the local leaders, educators and students they’re working with here in Cambodia. Together, they are doing such amazing work. They’re running girls’ leadership camps and girls’ sports teams and learning about health and nutrition, and this training will give them even more skills and tools to educate and empower girls. The Peace Corps will eventually be conducting these girls’ education trainings for all of its nearly 7,000 volunteers, and I cannot wait to see what they do with everything they learn!

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The First Lady’s Travel Journal: Educating and Empowering Girls in Cambodia

This post is part of a series authored by First Lady Michelle Obama to share her visit to Japan and Cambodia and the Let Girls Learn initiative with young people in the U.S.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Mrs. Bun Rany Hun, First Lady of Cambodia, are greeted by students while visiting the Room to Read program at Hun Sen Bakorng High School in Siem Reap, Cambodia as part of the “Let Girls Learn” initiative on March 21, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)

I started the day with a visit to the Hun Sen Bakorng High School which has nearly 1,600 hundred students in grades seven through twelve. I was joined by the First Lady of Cambodia, Mrs. Bun Rany, who also cares deeply about girls’ education.

At this school, an organization called Room to Read runs a special scholarship program for girls who live in areas far from the school. Girls in remote parts of Cambodia often wind up dropping out of school because it’s too dangerous to travel to and from school each day or they just can’t afford the costs of transportation. But Room to Read provides girls with scholarships that cover the cost of housing, food and books, so they can live at the school and get their education.

I had the pleasure of meeting with these girls, and they were absolutely amazing — so passionate about their education and so determined to pursue their dreams. Two of these students — young women named Sohang Vean and Lorn Phounam — shared their stories with me, and I want to share them with you:

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TRIPOLI, Lebanon: A Tripoli resident who operated several social media accounts promoting the activities of ISIS militants was arrested by the Lebanese Army Saturday.

After monitoring the suspect's activity across social media platforms like Twitter and Youtube, the Army traced his location to the the Qibbeh neighborhood in Tripoili.

The suspect, who was identified by his nom du guerre “Abu al-Hour al-Shami,” is a Tripoli resident who is suspected of posting messages and videos promoting the activities of ISIS militants, who have killed thousands of people in Iraq and Syria.

Security sources said that Al-Shami has links to media personnel in Syria and was in contact with ISIS affiliates in Raqqa. The suspect also has strong ties to two brothers from Tripoli who are currently fighting alongside the jihadi group.

It remains unclear whether he was tasked to operate the media network by ISIS or if he did so voluntarily.

The suspects operates a Youtube account that goes by the name “Markaz Aisha lil Intaj al I’lami,” which in Arab translates to "The Aisha Center for Media Production." The account publishes propaganda for ISIS and footage of their operations.

In one video circulated on Youtube, footage allegedly shows Lebanese troops torturing a inmate at Roumieh Prison. The video ends with a caption that reads: “The Lebanese Army are traitors.”

The suspect also runs a Twitter account under the name “Abu al-Hour al-Shami.”

In one post from March 11, the suspect posted pictures of a 19-year-old from the northern city of Tripoli who was killed while fighting with ISIS in Syria.

“The martyrdom of my beloved brother Abu Huthaifa al-Tarabolsi,” read the caption posted above the photo.

In one tweet, the suspect called on ISIS to officially enter Lebanon.

The father of the suspect confessed to media content that could be found on al-Shami’s phone, saying that he was aware that his son was keeping recordings and footage of ISIS military operations.

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Ted Cruz Reportedly Set To Announce Presidential Bid

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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz speaks with area business leaders during a Politics and Eggs breakfast, on March 16 in Manchester, N.H. Jim Cole/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Jim Cole/AP

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz speaks with area business leaders during a Politics and Eggs breakfast, on March 16 in Manchester, N.H.

Jim Cole/AP

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz will announce Monday he is running for the Republican nomination for president, according to The Houston Chronicle, which quotes senior advisers with direct knowledge of the plans.

Ultra-conservative Cruz, who has quickly risen to prominence in recent years with firebrand tactics that have fired up the GOP's tea-party base, will make his run official during a speech at Liberty University, the evangelical Christian college in Lynchburg, Va., founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell.

Unlike some of his potential Republican challengers, Cruz will bypass an exploratory committee and launch directly into the campaign, the Chronicle says.

The newspaper reports: "Over the course of the primary campaign, Cruz will aim to raise between $40 million and $50 million, according to advisers, and dominate with the same tea party voters who supported his underdog Senate campaign in 2012. But the key to victory, Cruz advisers believe, is to be the second choice of enough voters in the party's libertarian and social conservative wings to cobble together a coalition to defeat the chosen candidate of the Republican establishment."

The New York Times adds:

"Mr. Cruz will be effectively firing the starting gun on the Republican primary, which has been dominated so far by the early exploratory maneuvers of Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor; Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin; Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey; Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky; and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.

"Mr. Rubio and Mr. Paul are said to be planning to enter the race next month, meaning that Mr. Cruz is looking to leap ahead and define himself as much as possible."

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BEIRUT: Hezbollah is preventing the establishment of a Lebanese state, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Gragea said Sudnay.

“What is disrupting the formation of a state in Lebanon is the presence of Hezbollah as a state within a state,” Geagea told Saudi Arabian Journalist Ahmad Adnan in a Youtube interview published Sunday.

Hezbollah's arms and the "method of its presence" contradict with the notion of a legitimate state, he said.

Geagea said his criticism of the party stems from an objection to policies seen as highly linked to foreign alliances that contradicts with a local vision for Lebanon. “Our relationship with Hezbollah is not based on enmity but opposition,” he added.

“All the Lebanese possess a particular vision of the state, and this is a state based on the Taif agreement, the constitution and the law,” he said.

“No disruptive factor can last indefinitely,” he added in reference to Hezbollah.

The Lebanese Forces leader also cited Hezbollah’s role in disrupting presidential elections, saying that the party’s main backer, Iran, was behind the ten month-long presidential vacuum.

“Either a president fully supportive of [Iran] was [elected] or no elections would be held, and this is what happened,” he said.

The Lebanese Forces chief also noted Iran’s expansion in the region, saying that it had adopted the rhetoric of the Palestinian cause as a means to achieve domination in the Middle East.

Geagea said that although several Arab capitals have been taken over by Iran, it has yet to take any measures against Israel.

"The region cannot accomodate this [Iranian expansion] becaues it will lead to unpredictable repurcussions."

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Hostage crisis breakthrough by end of month: report

BEIRUT: Negotiations with the captors of 25 Lebanese servicemen being held hostage on the outskirts of Arsal is set to witness a breakthrough by the end of the month, the daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Sunday.

According to the report, the resumption of Qatar’s role as a mediator between the Lebanese government and the Nusra Front has lead negotiations to take on a more serious turn, with “informed sources” expecting a “breakthrough” by the end of March.

A separate report published by An-Nahar Sunday also claimed positive developments in talks with the captors, saying that the Nusra Front was eager to release the policemen and troops.

The Al-Qaeda affiliate is reportedly seeking a quick resolution out fears that clashes with ISIS, Hezbollah or the Syrian regime would cause it to lose its footing in the Qalamoun region.

A report published by Al-Akhbar Saturday, identified the Qatari mediator as Syrian national named ‘Abu Anas.’ The report did not delve deeper in to the negotiator's identity but also confirmed that the resumption of direct negotiations with the captors is on a positive track.

“The Nusra Front is projecting positive signals,” the report read.

Also Saturday, General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim said that the captors are unlikely to resume killing the Lebanese servicemen because negotiations have made serious progress.

“We have come a long way in the negotiations over the captive servicemen, and no dramatic developments are anticipated,” Ibrahim, who is in charge of the task force negotiating their release, told TV station NBN.

“We believe that the murders are now behind us.”

He said that local mediators negotiating with the captors have succeeded in overcoming a great deal of obstacles.

“Any case can see both breakthroughs and setbacks,” Ibrahim said. “But according to my experience, [future] setbacks have become kind of unlikely.”

No mention was made of negotiations with ISIS, which have been on-hold for months.

At least 25 Lebanese soldiers and policemen are still held captive by ISIS and the Nusra Front on the northeastern Lebanese borders.

So far, the Nusra Front has shot dead two hostages, and released eight, while ISIS has beheaded two others.

The hostages were kidnapped during a five-day battle with the Lebanese Army in August.