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Chirac says Lebanese worried about independence, says Chirac

BEIRUT: French President Jacques Chirac said on Saturday young Lebanese were worried about the future of their country and urged them to mobilise to secure its freedom, independence and democracy.

"I ardently desire a strong, independent Lebanon," Chirac told a news conference on the last day of a 48-hour visit in which he expressed support for the freedom and independence of Lebanon, a French protectorate before independence in 1943.

Helping Lebanon regain its place as a focus of religious tolerance in a stable, peaceful and developing Mediterranean region was a priority of French policy, Chirac declared.

Chirac said his visits to Lebanon and Egypt, where he was to travel later on Saturday, were intended to revive France's "presence and role (in the Middle East) which had perhaps eroded a bit with time".

Urging Lebanon to rediscover its vocation for tolerance -- 17 religious communities are officially recognised in the country -- Chirac said it could become an example that would help to build stability in the Mediterranean.

Lebanon emerged from 15 years of sectarian civil war in 1990.

"If tomorrow we find again among the Mediterranean ensemble a Lebanon which gives an example of tolerance and conviviality between men and women beyond their different religious convictions, this will impose itself as an element of peace and stability everywhere else," Chirac said.

"We are very, very concerned to make this resurrection of the Lebanese vocation possible, and this naturally requires its independence and economic progress," he said.

Many Lebanese, particularly Christians, feel the presence of 35,000 Syrian troops who help the government keep security gives Damascus hegemony over their country and threatens Lebanon's traditional liberties.

Asked about the concern of young Lebanese for the country's future, Chirac said there was disquiet and even anguish among Christians and Moslems alike.

"They ask what will happen here tomorrow in Lebanon. Will there be complete democracy, with liberty and independence which allow the Lebanese genius to flourish, or, on the contrary, are the constraints which we know of today of a nature that will last or grow stronger?" Chirac said.

"I am an optimist and I think that nothing is inevitable and we must mobilise to obtain the desired objectives," he said.

Chirac said he backed Christian demands for guarantees of a just electoral law as a condition for taking part in parliamentary elections due in the autumn.

Most Christians boycotted elections in 1992 in protest against the Syrian presence. They now fear that an electoral law under preparation will be designed to keep opponents of the Syrian-backed government out of parliament.

Chirac strongly urged Christians during his visit to vote in the elections.

He told the news conference he had discussed the issue with Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, patriach of the Maronite church, and they agreed the election law should exclude no groups.

"I think like him that an electoral law...should be just, as just as possible, and must allow all sensibilities to be represented in their true proportion," Chirac said.

"I hope that this law which is being prepared will respond to these demands of justice and will also allow all the Lebanese, no matter what their origins, to participate in these elections," he added.-Reuter