January 25, 2006, - Vol. 173 No 4727

Veteran lawyer and presidential candidate Chibli Mallat has welcomed a statement issued by the UN Security Council on Monday in which it called for holding free and fair presidential elections in Lebanon without outside interference, according to AN NAHAR. (See MER 24/1/06) Mallat said that the UN statement proves that the extension of President Emile Lahoud’s mandate represented a violation of international laws. “It is necessary for Lebanon to resolve this issue at once to restore democracy,” Mallat was quoted as saying in a lecture at Yale University in the U.S. “The responsibility lies on the representatives of the Lebanese people who are required to meet to discuss the issue of the presidency and prepare for electing a new president,” said Mallat, who considers the presidency vacant.

Lebanon has not yet set new presidential elections to choose a successor to Emile Lahoud, its pro-Syria president, who secured another three years in office beginning November 2004, when the parliament, under pressure from Syria, amended the Lebanese constitution to extend his term.

The leading Beirut daily AN NAHAR on Wednesday took the U.N. council’s reference to the status of President Lahoud as “the clearest indication so far that the world community does not recognize the legitimacy of Lahoud’s current mandate in office.” The remark, said the paper, implies a call to “end the mandate sooner or later.” The paper added that President Lahoud had tried, but failed, to block out the remark from the council statement. The statement was also welcomed by presidential candidate Chibli Mallat who particularly noted the council’s call for “free and fair elections of a president who has the confidence and trust of the people.”

January 5, 2006, - Vol. 173 No 4715

Lebanese presidential candidate Chibli al-Mallat on Wednesday said that Lebanese President Emile Lahoud could stay in office no longer than two months, after which “he will fall, and his security regime will go down with him”.

The Lebanese daily AS SAFIR on Thursday quoted Mallat as saying the extension of Lahoud’s mandate was a breach of the constitution, adding: “Lahoud’s presence in office is similar to [foreign] occupation.”

Mallat maintained that disarming militant group Hizbullah could not be looked into before a new president is elected. UN Security Council 1559 calls for the disarming of all militias on Lebanese soil. AS SAFIR quoted Mallat as saying the election of a new president “would create an atmosphere, allowing officials to look into the issue of disarming militias.”

December 15, 2005 - Vol. 172 No. 4707

One reason why Hizbullah is opposed to an international tribunal on Lebanon is because it fears such a court might decide to look into other crimes such as the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marines in Beirut and the kidnapping of Westerners in that decade.

This is the view of presidential candidate Chibli Mallat, who made these remarks to The Middle East Reporter. Mallat, who declared his candidacy last month, explained in a statement why Hizbullah ministers walked out from a recent cabinet session in protest against the government’s decision to ask for an international tribunal.

Mallat claimed that “there is no foundation for their fears”, adding, “the tribunal will be limited” to prosecuting those found guilty in the Hariri assassination. Mallat, a lawyer with expertise in international criminal law, said, “I worked hard, with others, on the night of Hariri’s death to seek an international investigation. The French government put the idea out, and we pushed it in human rights and diplomatic circles.” He went on to say that he supported the call for an international tribunal, “as justice here comes before sovereignty.”