Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — The head of the Kataeb Party, Sami Gemayel, sent a written letter to caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the Lebanese government on Thursday, asking them to "correct" Lebanese-Syrian relations, according to the state-run National News Agency.
In a speech delivered from Bikfaya (Metn), Gemayel called for a "return to a peer relationship" between Lebanon and Syria after the fall of the Syrian regime.
On Sunday morning, rebel forces announced the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's government and the "liberation" of the capital Damascus after a swift offensive that ended over five decades of Assad family rule.
After mentioning the Syrian occupation of Lebanon from 1976 to 2005, in which "violations" against the Lebanese people were committed, Gemayel listed 13 measures that should be taken by the Lebanese government as soon as possible.
First, the Kataeb leader called for "taking all necessary legal and diplomatic measures to investigate the facts and uncover the fate of the forcibly disappeared and Lebanese detainees in Syrian prisons, whose number is no less than 622 Lebanese citizens."
During their offensive, the rebel forces that ousted Assad freed prisoners from government jails in different Syrian cities.
Gemayel asked the government to "grant fair compensation to Lebanese detainees in Syrian prisons and the families of martyrs who died under torture, similar to the compensation received by those liberated from Israeli prisons." He also called for "restricting diplomatic relations between the two countries through the two official embassies, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and preventing the establishment of any parallel channels outside the constitutional and diplomatic frameworks."
Moreover, he asked for "directing the competent security agencies to search, investigate and track down Habib Shartouni, who was convicted in the assassination of former President Bashir Gemayel, and implement the court ruling issued against him." He also emphasized the importance of "reopening the investigation files in the cases of the assassination of the symbols of the Cedar Revolution and the Beirut port explosion."
Kataeb, along with other political parties including the Lebanese Forces, accuses the Syrian government of being behind several assassinations that took place in Lebanon.
In addition, Gemayel said that necessary legal measures should be taken to "prosecute former officials of the Syrian regime who have taken refuge in Lebanon, hold them accountable for the violations committed against the Lebanese people, and prevent Lebanon from becoming a safe haven for tyrants and those involved in crimes against humanity."
He even called for removing all symbols and memorials of Hafez al-Assad and his family immediately and renaming Lebanese streets and squares bearing their names or Syria's name with Lebanese national names. He also asked for declaring April 26 an official national day to commemorate the "liberation of Lebanese territories from Syrian occupation in 2005" and the demarcation of the land and maritime borders between the two countries as soon as a president is elected in Lebanon and institutions are regularized in Syria.”
Finally, in response to a question, he said there is no longer any obstacle for Syrians in Lebanon to return to their country and for the Lebanese state to seriously implement the laws."