Aoun promises return to Lebanon

General Aoun has lived in France since 1991

Exiled Lebanese Christian leader General Michel Aoun says he is to return home after receiving assurances from the government that he will not be arrested.

General Aoun has been living in France for nearly 10 years. He has previously said he would not return without guarantees of immunity from prosecution on corruption charges.

I do not want to be harassed or attacked by the security services

General Aoun

Speaking on television, Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said General Aoun's arrest was not being considered, but he added that if allegations of embezzlement were proven, repayment would be necessary.

General Aoun denies the allegations. He headed a government of Christian military officials in the late 1980s before being ousted by a Syrian-led military coalition.

In a BBC interview, he said he had not ruled out forming a political party in the future.

Reassurance

"I am ready to come back, but I will only do it once I am reassured of their [the government's] intentions," General Aoun told L'Orient-Le Jour newspaper on Thursday.

"I do not want to be harassed or attacked by the security services, nor do I want to be made the target of prosecution."

Commenting on Mr Hariri's public declaration, General Aoun said he had done nothing to warrant arrest or pursuit by the government.

He rejects allegations of corruption and human rights violations during his stormy tenure as Lebanon's military ruler between 1988 and 1990.

Anti-Syrian feeling

While military ruler, General Aoun started a "war of liberation against Syria" before being ousted by a Syrian-led military coalition in 1991.

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He was forced into exile in France and was later accused of abuses of power and wasting state funds.

General Aoun makes no bones about his continuing distrust for Syria.

Earlier in the week he told An-Nahar newspaper that, as long as Syria refused to respect its smaller neighbour's sovereignty, the relationship between the two would be one of "slavery".

There is growing public feeling in Lebanon that Damascus should scale back its force of 35,000 troops stationed in Lebanon, and reduce its involvement in the country's affairs.