Aoun: Governmentally, Things Have Not Fully Matured and Some are Maneuvering

President Michel Aoun clarified, in a comment regarding the "notification to exploration companies about discovering quantities of oil and gas within the fourth basin in 2018, and how the companies later retracted claiming that the quantities were small and non-commercial," that "they did not want us to extract it, but we are now on the verge of concluding this file in favor of Lebanon in a short time, as we will obtain our right to extract, without having any direct relations with Israel, but rather through American mediation." Aoun emphasized, in an interview with the "Publisher" website, regarding the plan to integrate Syrian refugees, that he "sought, with General Security Director Major General Abbas Ibrahim, to reduce the number of refugees and return about 600,000 out of the one million and 750 thousand refugees; however, external vetoes halted the count of refugees, which began to increase day by day." He noted that "what bothered me, however, was their labeling of me as racist, while I wanted to alleviate the burden on the Lebanese, at a time when some were visiting Arsal to tell us 'there's nothing' before our battle with terrorism began." Aoun expressed regret for all the media deception that accompanied his presidency, stating that some media "misquoted me, accused me of things I did not do, and misattributed actions to Gibran Bassil, especially regarding the latter's role behind all my decisions." "All this is lies, fabrication, and deception," he claimed. Aoun considered that "matters have become clear, and there is an internal-external entanglement that rejected Aoun's rule, stating that they did not want to let me achieve any accomplishment, as if the achievement was not for the Lebanese and Lebanon." He added: "I knew that the confrontation would be difficult, just as I knew that confronting the Syrian occupation was so, but I prefer it over surrendering and handing over the country." He wished the next president success in completing what he started on various fronts, but he affirmed his return to political work from Rabieh, stressing that he made a promise to himself with fellow martyrs of the struggle that he would continue without hesitation, "so how could I retreat?" Regarding the formation of the government, he revealed that "it seems that the matters have not fully matured yet, and some are maneuvering."