In his statement, on Thursday November 17, 2005 during the international conference Axis for Peace, Lebanese PM Salim Al-Hoss gave a long speech on the sovereignty of countries as a previous step to achieve lasting peace.
Salim Al-Hoss recognized the legitimacy of the struggle waged by the Iraqi resistance and by all nations fighting for their independence, and he noted: “Colonized countries see how their people become hostages.
Then we can not speak of peace. Any person who takes arms to defend the freedom of his or her nation is described as a ‘terrorist’.
However, we must make it clear that as soon as a violation of a country’s sovereignty takes place we are before a terrorist action”.
Salim Al-Hoss knows very well the problems related to civil division and foreign interference in war time. He is an economist and was Lebanon’s Prime Minister on three occasions (1976-1980, 1987-1990 and 1998 2000). He defended his country’s sovereignty, particularly during the war that torn Lebanon apart.