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CLAO
Founded in 1989 to
serve the USA and Lebanon.
THE COUNCIL OF LEBANESE AMERICAN ORGANIZATIONS
E-mail: clao@clao.com 1-888-4 CLAO 89 Internet:
www.clao.com
September 23,
2004
PR 040923
Occupation Must End – Syrian Redeployment Won’t Do
The UN Security Council resolution 1559 clearly
states that all foreign forces must fully withdraw from Lebanon. The
latest Syrian redeployment is insufficient and is merely a maneuver,
violating the resolution, and will surely be rejected by the free world as
much as the freedom seeking Lebanese rejects it. The time is running out
for the Syrian regime to fully and unconditionally withdraw its occupation
troops and intelligence from Lebanon. Furthermore, the Syrian-installed
Lebanese regime must realize that ruling against the will of the people
will no longer go by unaccountable.
The Council of Lebanese American Organizations (CLAO) is grateful to the
U.S., U.K., and France that have made it clear that Syria is expected to
withdraw its occupation forces and that the redeployment won’t do. Again,
CLAO strongly advises the Syrian dictator regime to abide by the
requirements stated in resolution 1559 and not to defy the will of the
free world. In this occasion, CLAO would like to refer to its open
letter to president Assad dated May 1, 2003, in which CLAO proposed to
Mr. Assad the following:
1.
To immediately and unconditionally disarm your arsenal of weapons
of mass destruction and turning over all such weapons that your Baath
regime has supposedly received from the now deposed Iraqi Baath regime.
2.
To immediately halt the smuggling of your terrorist fighters and
arms to Iraq as well as to give up your strategy of inflicting casualties
on the Coalition forces.
3.
To give up your sponsorship of terrorist organizations.
4.
To handover all Syrian-hosted members of the Iraqi Baath regime to
the Coalition forces.
5.
To immediately
implement UN resolution 520 that calls for all foreign armies to withdraw
from Lebanon: The Syrian Army, its Intelligence Services and all its
military proxies. In conjunction, all the Syrian
sponsored armed groups and private militias in Lebanon...
6.
To discontinue your opposition
to the Lebanese army’s immediate deployment throughout the whole country
and most notably Southern Lebanon in natural exercise of the Lebanese
government sovereignty and in fulfillment of its obligations.
7.
To discontinue your support
of the Syrian-installed oppressive Lebanese government, paving the way for
an internationally recognized interim Lebanese government that would have
the role to prepare for internationally supervised free and fair elections.”
Furthermore, in the same letter,
CLAO urged the Syrian president to
seriously consider the above proposal, which should prove helpful to Syria.
Moreover, CLAO added: “Massacres, terror, and oppression that your people
and the occupied Lebanese have experienced at your regime’s hands are
unwise and unethical. There are better ways to rule a nation. If you
don’t embrace change, the forces of freedom could overwhelm your outdated
regime. And your fate could be the same as that of your neighbor’s. You
and your regime could be ousted!”
Out of concerns, CLAO calls on the Syrian
Regime to have mercy on the Syrian people by fulfilling Syria’s
obligations under International Laws. Time is running out! |
