Gemayel Ally Rejects Syrian-Brokered Lebanon Pact, Warns of Confrontation

BEIRUT —  A key Christian politician close to Lebanese President Amin Gemayel rejected a Syrian-backed peace pact Thursday, saying it risks provoking further sectarian confrontation.

“The agreement requires correction, not just amendment here and there,” Elie Karameh, political leader of Gemayel’s Falangist Party, said. “It turns Lebanon, which is in a state of great decay, into an land of open confrontation.”

Karameh’s comments were the strongest public criticism of the pact since it was signed Dec. 29 in Damascus by the main Christian, Druze and Shia Muslim militias.

Political sources here said that Gemayel will make “observations” about the accord when he next meets with Syrian President Hafez Assad, probably Saturday.

Despite strong Syrian pressure, Gemayel has not declared his support for the pact, which proposes greater power for the nation’s Muslim majority.

Karameh predicted that the proposed abolition of Lebanon’s current power-sharing system, which has favored Christians since 1943, would “leave a vacuum to be filled by chaos or the redoubled sectarianism of fanatics.”

He also rejected any reduction of the president’s prerogatives--the president is a Christian under the current arrangement. And he attacked as unnecessary a proposal to return the army to its barracks for rehabilitation.

However, Karameh added: “The attitude of the Christians, in general, should not be seen as negative. Any defect may have been the fault of those who volunteered to speak and agree on behalf of the Christians,” an apparent reference to Lebanese Forces militia chief Elie Hobeika, who signed the accord with a strong push from Syria.