i for one would certainly like to remain a member of it at brett dunbar says brett citizen hugely expensive farce it was always going to be a disaster and the sooner we abandon it the better well i wish we could abandon brick set but for those who are in favor of continuing with that i see this at least we should ensure that we don't take the u.k. economy off a cliff age we're american says just watched some unsure interviewing kid tory they might have time she said united kingdom in calling britain a country britain is a state to four countries not a country thank you we've got an e-mail from jane sperry who says how alex love the new sure love it keep up the good work by the we how about changing the name to x. we hoff order based more in the scotland thank you very much we're going to stick with this name for nothing but keep the suggestions coming in finally look at this amazing picture this is a message from william nickel he says twenty kilos of lead sorry can't afford gold

your oscar for putting scotland first they see any advertising is good advertising but you're sure it's quality thank you p.s. you'll need to collect it well thanks very much william i think we'll send alex up the road to collect it from you. this city was the financial as well as the commercial side of the entire middle east because of lebanon was the switzerland of the east. it was the part of the. route to the presidential palace but i'm here to interview president meet. a man whose political career and company of lebanon. as an independent nation. and on the very day of interviews president was able to reassemble the government of prime minister saeed. which had been plunged into

a month long crisis following the shock blessitt nation with the visit to saudi arabia preston i wouldn't refuse point blank to accept the resignation of the prime minister and through the diplomatic efforts of both the white house nearly see the palace come to lebanon and on this day officially rescinded the resignation of the coalition government then we assess lebanon all conflicts between the. press and i would if lebanon could really stay secure from the regional political ambitions of its neighbors one of the stumbling blocks to peace in lebanon. is to avoid lebanese community. getting drawn into the rivalry of regional power such as saudi arabia and iran. are you confident the lebanese people can stay apart from these regional rivalries.

kidney and then you can or why dean and never mind certainly they can keep away from this but what's happening in syria is exceptional because syria is a neighboring country and there was an incursion by the terrorists around our builders. we were obliged to act militarily the lebanese army and even hezbollah were involved have a lot of blood continued to oust them away from the borders and they took a region called golan mono which is on the lebanese border then hezbollah helps syria overcome the threats and dangers are there. and mr president the sectarian difficulties across the middle east are not confined to sunni and shia divisions in the muslim community in many countries christian communities have been persecuted in serbia and also in iraq how confident are you of the position of lebanese

christians. but their kid living there and or. most certainly lebanon has a different experience than most of the arab countries gain for us there is a proportional balance between the christian and muslim citizens many whereas in other countries christians are a minority compared to the muslim population i mean is there like. how many there for christian populations have faced terrorist attacks and they were harmed more than their fellow muslim citizens. in a better measurement what new leadin. was president you have political career and compass is a great deal of the period since lebanese independence from france. in recent days we've seen a renewed friend who are all in terms of helping to the solve the crisis

concerning the resignation of prime minister ho really do you welcome this new french involvement and how do you think this will play out. here. france is a country on the shore of the mediterranean sea. the countries that are within the basin of the mediterranean sea have been neighbors since ancient times. the mediterranean was the cradle of all civilizations which spread into the west and america. many. and this is why we've been cooperating with each other for a long time and we also benefit each other economically and we are affected by each other culturally. at the us. about a year. and a us president of lebanon about the possibility of further is really incursions

into your country. good bad. i think that's after the july two thousand and six war israel will no longer attack lebanon because it will not be able to penetrate the lebanese fronts and then here. in terms of recent developments we've seen a much more assertive role from the new leadership in saudi arabia is this a matter which concerns you no no. no i'm not concerned by these issues not at all because we already have the national unity and this national unity prevents any danger from happening to our society and the. hezbollah have the considerable arsenal of weaponry which they say is to defend lebanon. but many communities in lebanon itself a concern before the strength of hezbollah how do you provide reassurance to these

communities. c.s. here. this is a political concern rather than a security issue because everybody knows that hizbollah large do not use their weapons in the domestic arena except only for one time when the lebanese government took measures against it. and a slight incidence occurred which ended in two days but ever since the establishment of hezbollah in one thousand nine hundred five until today there has only been one small incident but if nothing else. some new york many. in lebanon the snow there are one and a half million refugees from so they are as well as perhaps five countries. but the international community does not cooperate with us until now except for

russia turkey and iran iran we hope to be able to change the opinions of the europeans and americans in this respect. certainly this issue is not easy but it is indeed a tremendous burden on our shoulders and we consider this to be a part of the injustice that's was imposed on us by the western world. is. alarming let me. in terms of lebanon as a relatively small country. that has a huge number of refugees to have in your communities what assistance. do you receive from the international community to help sustain that position and what more assistance would lebanon like to see. the men. who are there only here lebanon has not received any international assistance in

there except minor assistance for schools going to cause the number of students exceeds our capacity to take in syrian students here asked for the other assistance and it is given to the refugees themselves in leisure in for the last week in italy you said definitively the lead in your opinion as president of lebanon the immediate crisis was over how confident are you of that position. and i am confident because there is no disagreements among the lebanese about settling this crisis and i don't think that those who created this crisis will repeat it again at their funeral and who do you believe was responsible for instigating the crisis which are hard to be addressed by you and all the polls. some say that it was the lebanese that instigated saudi arabia it's actually the

question is who is it that's executed it for us and how confident are you as president that the political balance which you have achieved over the last year can continue to secure peace and prosperity in your country. this understanding will improve through time and we are working on it. must press the faster you think stuff from president michel i wouldn't you know exclusive interview. by guy by any eyes on it features. some of my ex in the future crocker was kaiser. trump benefit. very much from the existing

plurality system because he was so different from the other candidates if you took any one of those mainstream candidates and you put him in a head to head contest with trump. that other candidate might well of want. to. take credit as one of the basic instruments to drive an economy. and in this. many lives have been broken my picks the banks got. welcome back to beirut it was the mediterranean sea which has been the secret of lebanon's trading prosperity through the ages let's get back to our exclusive interview with president michel i would mr president some twenty seven years ago you were forced out of of this palace and into exile

a year ago you were elected by a massive majority of the lebanese parliament as president how satisfying was it for you personally to return to this place with such a democratic mandate. i had to contain schroeder in order to hear how i felt that the right has returned to its owner is. my acceptance of power was not my objective the objective for me was to rebuild lebanon and to make it an exemplary states and this is the direction i'm working towards and this gives me perfect satisfaction i mean an f.c. you know your political career in compass is much of the history of lebanon as an independent country can you tell us how that history has evolved since

independence and what your hopes are for the future. and my current. where i got. it when i was a teenager in fact even younger than that as a child. i was in point three school in one nine hundred forty three on our chests and we protested in the streets against the french the no one we were calling for independence the that was the beginning and the plan. b. we've had a really in world war two i was even younger i mean i used to hear the names of hitler miscellany to go all style in churchill. i memorized all of these names from the conversations between my family and my neighbors and they always used to talk about the way. he were only really very pushy iran would be able and

this was the first period which had a great impact on me see the second great impact on me happened in one thousand nine hundred men on the palestinian refugees arrived eleven on their condition was very bad. i was thirteen years back then and when they arrived i used to live in the heart attack that i started to help those who were mounting the tennis for them . now we used to bring blankets and tents on the un to give them food. afterwards and i should say great moments had a massive impact on me. in the second world war some soldiers who entered beirut assaulted some woman you know and secondly i also saw the misery on the faces of the palestinians and the misery of being

a refugee but. for a new year so this stayed in my memory all my life. until i joined the military school in one nine hundred fifty five. that year i entered the military school and i graduated in one nine hundred fifty eight as a lieutenant. part of the training included a year in the artillery college and shallow sea man in paris france. when i had to . be a mother of. a year then i returned and under all the missions that's a lieutenant's or a captain may undertake until nine hundred sixty seven. it was in that year when i was at the borders when israel invaded the arab countries syria jordan and egypt. israel did not cross the borders of lebanon however but as

a repercussion of this war the palestinians crossed into our borders and the confrontation increased between the lebanese and the palestinians until the two year war of seventy five and seventy six broke out then. of course since nine hundred sixty seven till one nine hundred seventy six when all the military action was undertaken by us. until all the big events separated the lebanese army and divided the lebanese nation into two groups. in the arab region was backing the palestinians and the problem remained in suspense for fifteen years until nine hundred eighty nine. years old but using that time israel invaded lebanon twice in one thousand nine hundred seventy eight and in one thousand nine hundred two. in one thousand nine hundred eighty eight the invasion was limited to the borders around the belt area. but in one thousand nine hundred two israel invaded lebanon

and reached the capital of beirut then i was the commander of the defense regiment which formed a belt around beirut in. and israel were not able to penetrate the spell. but when israel arrived in beirut well it took the road of zari by then i was separating west beirut from east beirut. just after the withdrawal of israel i was in charge of the security of beirut and we deployed the army in all of the capital and all of the southern suburbs it has been in many ways a troubled history but lebanon still has the highest wealth but head in the arab world if you exclude oil how much more prosperous could lebanon be if you're successful in securing that peace between the communities and staying free of the activities of regional powers.

and of men that. as a myth. and in this current situation lebanon is living under three crises of the global crisis which impacted us because we are part of the world economy the second crisis is the shutting down of the land borders of eleven on in from one side there is syria from the other side is israel we only have access to the outside world through this seat and this is difficult for us. and it's has greatly affected our economy. move in this. way in the theater of this of the the third crisis is the massive the syrian displacements which is costing us and continues to cost us our resources of it increased significantly of about in twenty ten we had a growth rate of eight percent now we are around one percent. we hope to climb over

the one percent next year mainly between me and then i would mean. me the balance of communities in lebanon is sustained by a confessional system a government where various seats in the parliament and various offices of state for particular a lot of just communities how stable can such a system be and are you satisfied that provides the balance for lebanon to go forward as a peaceful society. who are themes here and this confessional system is a political system in lebanon has three parties bound by a coalition and this coalition is ruling lebanon political coalitions occur in all countries of the world. the american secretary of state rex tillerson said recently that we must be aware of lebanon being used for proxy wars how much of

a danger is that and are you satisfied that your actions and those of other. have removed imminent danger. here and lay a tree on your car and rule where is and he is here. most certainly it's not enough for those outside of lebanon to say that lebanese sovereignty instability must be reserved. for the lebanese people must be the first to preserve their own national unity and stability. we may want he said outside helps lebanon after all the hardships they have been through and are willing to go forward in this direction but. i would like to enjoy the tension to the fact that the events in syria started in twenty eleven and ever since then despite all the political divisions between the lebanese there have been no internal clashes and when we made disagreements there were no obstacles because there were no clashes and no

bloodshed between us is you know making a few how it is. done and what would your message be as president of lebanon to the major regional powers firstly to saudi arabia and then to iran. who are busy but. i think that peace provides prosperity and security for all and war is a loss for everyone because all the resources of any country are wasted during any war and instead these resources could be used to contribute to the country's prosperity and developments. across finally mr president. well this country of lebanon is one of the cradles of civilization it has a magnificent history as a trading and commercial center how confident are you as president that you can

secure the peace. like i think we are capable of restoring lebanon so its previous status as the switzerland of the east or three story i believe it will go back to that status or amend b. and now say oh but your weather and climate will still be better than switzerland. there's no idea if it. were there for. there are weather and climate is warmer and warmer helps relieve people i see that lebanon is a hearts for the west and a mine for the east because our culture has it you ality about it we have a western dimension as well as an eastern dimension in our culture and they complete each other europe has a joy heart it takes from our hearts as if your of your court is than more reasonable more logical and we take from them.

there. was the president we wish you success peace and prosperity for the future thank you so much for appearing on the alec salmon show can i present you with the quick. thank you very much. thank you sir. well lebanon may have a warmer climate the president michelle oden is a very cool customer given the experiences of his career it takes a great deal to ruffle his father's his set of cells high ambitions but he just might be successful restoring this beautiful country to its previous position as the switzerland of the east bay from the lebanon back to tasmania in the studio. what a fascinating interview with lebanon's president michel the president exudes confidence that he can keep lebanese society secure from each no conflicts and on the straight

and narrow road to peace and prosperity however this last weekend's unrest on the streets of beirut following the trump decision to recognize jerusalem as a capital of israel shows just how fragile lebanese community relations can be one wonders whether u.s. state department which had worked behind the scenes to secure the stability of the heavy government advised the president on the possible consequences to lebanon of this latest white house initiative which has also been met with near total universal international condemnation however this is still been a good week for those who believe in a prosperous future for lebanon the government is back in office and the peace secure for the time being as president on pretty himself the political crisis is over let us all hope that it stays that way next week we'll be in edge and after a special christmas episode of alex salmond show so from alex and all that the team here will feel even.

it's a. wonder when they hear a car the city of new day. burning or anyone within the multiple feels

a. little. just a row reserved in your eyes following after being mauled me meant to make a friend with a foot on a cliff in some moment up on the yes i will come look at them they want us and the feeling to see them. was. a set of just a thought that they'll fall. we first like when you on us come into inspect our property if somebody would've been told me that i'm going to spend my life for the plane committees and i'll talk to stroke or some of the salt it was clear to see. every night although we were attacked by the arabs we will attacking them and we will extremely shocked and saying but that's not possible i'll make those moveable

such scenes and then disorder simple myself from the sneak into. the house with the prisoner we've all dealt with over the they all. believe much second class citizens in the on call. it was like lightning in my head that there is no way to be able to live together without tearing down the street was. i. am i. right or wrong regarding. a little bit. i.

feel. the headlines in our say muslim nations call for east jerusalem to be recognized as the palestinian capital inside the us no longer has a place in the middle east peace process off the shifting position on the city stopped as we can damage the us to secure jerusalem every possible step must be taken to prevent the implementation of this illegal action by the us administration . also this hour a big breakfast blow for two reason may is even her own m.p.'s rebelled polman to veto any final deal on leaving. and. back. home. as a backlash against police in the usa to make she give in to the handcuffs and that

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