Lebanese Shiite Politician Ahmad Al-Assad Attacks Iran and States: We Should Invest in Our Interests with the West

Following are excerpts from interviews with Ahmad Al-Assad, a Lebanese Shiite politician, which aired on Future News TV and on Al-Arabiya TV on June 1, 2009.

Ahmad Al-Assad: We all remember how, in the days of the U.S.S.R., when the Russian people would go to vote, 99% voted, against their will, for the Soviet Communist Party. As soon as the Russian people had an opportunity to express their beliefs, only 10-12% voted for the Communist Party. This is the situation here as well. Today, among Shiite circles, if you do not toe the line marked by the brothers in Hizbullah, not only do they label you a "traitor" and "collaborator," but also an "apostate," someone who is not Muslim, not a Shiite. One needs to be very resolute to continue to express one's opinions under such conditions.

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Today, we have common interests with the international community. The international community is serious about the building of the Lebanese state, because this is in its interest. When there is a Lebanese state, the Iranian agenda in Lebanon will be weakened. It is in our interest to make the most of these common interests. We should do this openly, because otherwise we will not get what we want.

Interviewer: Are relations with Washington part of this?

Ahmad Al-Assad: Of course, of course. The international community in its entirety. There is a new cold war today. In the 1970s, in the 1980s, and even in the 1960s, there was a cold war between Western society and the Communist society. There was a Western camp and a Communist camp. Today there is a new cold war between the Iranian regime and the international community in its entirety. As Lebanese, we need to choose what kind of society we want for Lebanon. Do we want a civilized society, with science, knowledge, a proper economy, liberties, and diversity, or do we want a closed society, with no economy or job opportunities – nothing but oppression? Is this the kind of society we want? What is the limit for our relations with the Americans? We want Lebanon to be open – as we used to know it – and so we should invest in our common interests with the West as much as we can.

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Al-Arabiya TV

The [Shaba' Farms] are merely a pretext to buy time. After Shaba', there will be the hills of Kafr Shuba, and then Jerusalem, and ultimately, we will be like the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. This story is unending, because it is part of the Iranian agenda to maintain this process in Lebanon. Through the organizations in this region, the Iranians continue to exert pressure on the international community.

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I am opposed to militarized Palestinian organizations. It is obvious that the Palestinians in Lebanon must not bear arms – neither within nor out of the refugee camps. In the Arab countries there are refugee camps for our Palestinian brothers, but there are no weapons in these camps. Besides, it has become clear by now that the Palestinian weapons are not used for operations against the Israeli enemy, but for purely domestic purposes.

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Interviewer: You are opposed to the concept of the Rule of the Jurisprudent, right?

Ahmad Al-Assad: This concept opposes itself.

Interviewer: Are you opposed to an Islamic republic in Lebanon?

Ahmad Al-Assad: Of course. As I've said, the Rule of the Jurisprudent is limited to Imam Al-Mahdi.