Lebanese officials agreed Wednesday on the importance of achieving a real independence, in a ceremony held at the Defense Ministry near Beirut to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Independence Day.
The event was attended by President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and Speaker Nabih Berri and wreaths were laid on the graves of several independence statesmen, including late former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
“On Independence Day, we are more and more in need of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s vision on Lebanon,” said caretaker Interior Minister Nohad Mashnouq from the Defense Ministry.
“Martyr Hariri constituted the door for Lebanon’s second independence, with the active role he played at the regional and international levels,” he added.
Lebanese Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, stated the real meaning of independence entails maintaining sovereignty in peaceful and bloody battles.
The Army Commander added that the Lebanese army would always stand by the people.
"I invite you to renew your trust in the army, which will always be by your side until full security is achieved," he stressed.
General Security Chief, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, delivered Wednesday the Order of the Day, asserting that his institution's key concern today was the defeat of terrorism.
"The General Directorate of the General Security is before a new stage at both the security and administrative levels in order to score new achievements that would add to Lebanon's value in a way that the Lebanese merit," Ibrahim said.
Lebanese Forces leader, Samir Geagea, said Lebanon’s independence remains incomplete as long as weapons and strategic military and security decisions remain outside state control.
Progressive Socialist Party Leader, Walid Jumblatt, said via twitter: "In this moment in time, we listen to the independence songs of Fairuz and Zaki Nssif. However, I can't help but wonder: What Independence is it that we are talking about? The Lebanon of Fairuz and Zaki Nassif is over. We live in another Lebanon today."
