Gemayel says won't take revenge or exclude Shiites as Lebanon 'rises again'

Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel said Friday that Hezbollah should know that the Lebanese will not accept to stay "under its guardianship" or to be "second-degree citizens" anymore.

"We are neither willing to take revenge nor to isolate or exclude anyone," he said, talking about Hezbollah, Amal, and their supporters.

"We accept everyone but under the law and the constitution," he added. "The time of chaos is over. From now on we will not accept any group, other than the Lebanese army, to be armed."

Gemayel had said, ahead of a presidential vote session scheduled for Jan. 9, that the upcoming president must be committed to the ceasefire agreement, although Gemayel's party and other opposition blocs have not yet agreed on a candidate.

Under the terms of a ceasefire reached in November, the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers are to become the only armed presence in south Lebanon, where Hezbollah has long held sway.

"Lebanon is rising again," Gemayel said. "The things that prevented building a state in the past and isolated Lebanon from its Arab neighbors and the international community have fallen."