Christian Lebanon oposition leader :
5/8/2005 11:15:00 AM GMT
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Lebanon's Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun returns after 15 years in exile
Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun returned Saturday from 15 years exile in France to crowds of cheering supporters, less than two weeks after Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon.
"Today is a day of happiness and joy," he told a news conference at Beirut airport, "It is a day of joy... I return as the sun of liberty shines anew to rebuild, together, a new Lebanon."
Aoun, a one-time army commander and interim prime minister, lost a "war of liberation" against Syrian forces in 1989-90. He took refuge at Lebanon's French Embassy and was sent into exile in France. An arrest warrant against him was dropped earlier in the week, clearing the way for his return.
Several supporters, wearing orange scarves, were seen wiping tears of joy as Aoun stepped off the plane in a business suit and waved to the crowds.
Thousands of his supporters, many of them youths, massed in Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where Aoun was later due to address a rally to offer his vision of the stated that he has a package of reform proposals to overhaul Lebanon's political landscape which remains dominated by sectarian loyalties.
His supporters among Lebanon's large Christian minority compare Aoun to Charles de Gaulle on his return to a liberated France in 1945 after the last German soldier marched out.
However, his critics resent his airs of grandeur and populism, dubbing him "Napolaoun".
His return has ruffled some members of the Lebanese opposition, namely Druze leader Walid Jumblatt who accused Aoun of wanting to take credit for the Syrian pullout that was completed April 26 ending 29 years of military domination.
"The assassination of Hariri secured the Syrian withdrawal, not the man who is returning to us this afternoon like a tsunami," Jumblatt told reporters earlier Saturday.
Other critics of Aoun fear his return will disrupt Lebanon's fragile political structure.
Lebanese government officials were absent from the airport.
"Today is a day of happiness and joy," he told a news conference at Beirut airport, "It is a day of joy... I return as the sun of liberty shines anew to rebuild, together, a new Lebanon."
Aoun, a one-time army commander and interim prime minister, lost a "war of liberation" against Syrian forces in 1989-90. He took refuge at Lebanon's French Embassy and was sent into exile in France. An arrest warrant against him was dropped earlier in the week, clearing the way for his return.
Several supporters, wearing orange scarves, were seen wiping tears of joy as Aoun stepped off the plane in a business suit and waved to the crowds.
Thousands of his supporters, many of them youths, massed in Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where Aoun was later due to address a rally to offer his vision of the stated that he has a package of reform proposals to overhaul Lebanon's political landscape which remains dominated by sectarian loyalties.
His supporters among Lebanon's large Christian minority compare Aoun to Charles de Gaulle on his return to a liberated France in 1945 after the last German soldier marched out.
However, his critics resent his airs of grandeur and populism, dubbing him "Napolaoun".
His return has ruffled some members of the Lebanese opposition, namely Druze leader Walid Jumblatt who accused Aoun of wanting to take credit for the Syrian pullout that was completed April 26 ending 29 years of military domination.
"The assassination of Hariri secured the Syrian withdrawal, not the man who is returning to us this afternoon like a tsunami," Jumblatt told reporters earlier Saturday.
Other critics of Aoun fear his return will disrupt Lebanon's fragile political structure.
Lebanese government officials were absent from the airport.
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