Suleiman Tired of Ongoing Bickering: I will Step Down in August

by **Admin** Thu Apr 03, 2008 12:08 pm

Army chief Gen. Michel Suleiman said on Thursday he would step down next August as commander of the military and expressed resentment over the continued bickering on his nomination for the presidency.

"I'm tired of the ongoing bickering over my name as a consensus presidential candidate," Suleiman said in an interview with As Safir daily.

"If one side nominates me, the other objects. If one country backs my nomination, other countries object…Every time we make a step forward, we find ourselves" facing more demands, he said.

The election of a president has reached a point where it "needs to cross mountains of conditions and counter conditions…all that at the expense of the presidential vacuum," the army chief added.

The military commander said he will "benefit from his annual vacations that have piled up in the past three years to step down on August 21 instead of November 21."

He informed the military council of his "final decision" of his intended retirement three months before the end of his term, he told As Safir.

"I have no intention of extending my term. I did my job the best I could and preserved the unity of the military institution during the hardest times," he added.

"The Army has succeeded in defending the country against occupation and terrorism and safeguarded internal peace and stability and we will not throw away these achievements," Suleiman stressed.

The Army chief made clear in his interview that if his retirement would "facilitate choosing another consensus candidate then I will support such efforts with all the power I have and I will never be an obstacle."

Suleiman ruled out the possibility of a new Israeli war but stressed that the Lebanese army would defend Lebanon if such an attack took place.

Suleiman also rejected rumors that summer 2008 will be shaky, warning from attempts to target Lebanon's tourism season.

"Had we had stability we would have taken advantage of Gulf investments," he said.

He also welcomed the 1960 electoral law, yet he ruled out any possibility of taking power in a non-violent military coup.

"Lebanon in not a country of military coups," he said. "All we can do as Lebanese is to keep calm and be patient."