Hanna Atik is a Christian Lebanese politician and veteran of the Lebanese Civil War. He is one of the founding fathers of the Lebanese Forces that was established in 1980.  He is also the founder of the “Lebanese Forces-Corrective Movement”.

- The car bomb in Beirut on October 19 killed 8, and wounded more then 100 people. It is called the deadliest bombing attack in Beirut in 4 years. The target of the attack is believed to have been Wissam al-Hassan, the head of the intelligence branch of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces. Can you give us a little background on what was Wissam al-Hassan's role in Lebanon's political life?

- General Wissam Al-Hassan is a martyr to all of Lebanon and to all of its denominations and political parties. He was known to have worked hard to ensure the security of the entire Lebanese front in all its diversity and was instrumental in many security operations including: the dismantling of some Israeli networks operating in Lebanon, revealing the Michael Semaha conspiracy, fighting Islamic terrorism especially “Fath Al Islam” activities, as well as cracking down on other illegal offenses such as kidnapping, money laundering, and other mob-directed crimes. As such, many theories could be posited regarding the identity of his killers. However, we must remember that the Lebanese Internal Security Forces has been targeted several times in the past beginning with the assassination of Wissam Eid, one of its highest officials, and ending with the assassination attempt on Samir Shehade, the previous Head of the Intelligence Branch of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces.

Once again, we have lost a vital member of the Lebanese Security Forces. The Lebanese, government and people, mourn this loss.

- The former PM and opposition March 14 alliance leader Saad Hariri described the bombing as an act of terror and said “he had no doubt that the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the attack” and that al-Hassan had been murdered because of his involvement in the arrest of the former Information Minister Michel Samaha.

- No one has real evidence on who killed the late General al-Hassan and many fronts could benefit from such an act; we feel it is best to wait for the investigations to finalize and we ask the Lebanese Judicial Council to concentrate its efforts to reveal the criminals behind this heinous act and to put an end to this series of terrorist attacks.

- Do you agree that nowadays we already are the witnesses of Syria conflict transfer into Lebanon?

- I believe that the revolution of the Lebanese people in 2005, which I consider to be the “Spring of Lebanon” was the main motivation that lead to the revolutions that we were witness to in many countries around the Middle East, ending in that of Syria’s. The key political players of the West, that were well-known supporters to many of these regimes and to their dictatorial leaders, abandoned them and that resulted in their collapse. This rule of thumb we saw does not apply to Syria, however, for Syria stands on a very strategic cross-road in the Middle East for the following reasons:

•    Syria holds a major card in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through Hamas;

•    It holds a major card in the Lebanese-Israeli Conflict through Hezbollah;

•    Geographically and on a security level, Syria holds a key card in the Iranian-Arabian-Israel conflict.

Any developments in Syria’s internal affairs, positive or negative, will have a direct and immediate effect on Lebanon. Till now, the awareness and efforts of the Lebanese Government, the Lebanese Army and the Lebanese Intelligence has been able to fail the attempts of many regional powers endeavor to bring the Syrian conflict to Lebanon. Thankfully, these attempts are so far unsuccessful and they should remain so.

- Being a member of Christian community yourself, please tell us what does the Christian community, especially Armenians of Lebanon think about the current situation?

- Armenians are mostly devoted Christians. Armenian-Lebanese are no exception.  Therefore, like most Lebanese, I consider the Armenian community’s position to be part and parcel of that of the larger Christian community of Lebanon. Unfortunately, the Lebanese Christians today are divided between two major political groups: March 8 and March 14th and that is of course reflected within the Armenian-Lebanese lines.  As always, we call for all Christians to unite towards a clear political mission that ensures their continuity and stability, under the leadership of our righteous religious Christian figures. We hope to put an end to the splits we are witnessing today and we strongly believe that the unity of the Christians is the initial and most mandatory step to the overall unity of Lebanon.

- Armenia has a large diaspora both in Syria and Lebanon. Because of Syria conflict lots of Armenians had left Syria. Do you see it possible, that the same scenario can be repeated in the case of Lebanon?

- The density of the Armenian-Lebanese is related directly to the destiny of the Christians in Lebanon and that falls within the stability of the Lebanese government. Despite the many instances of instability, there has been an Armenian presence in Lebanon for decades. The Armenian community of Lebanon is an integral part of our national make-up and we engulf their presence and will make any needed effort to preserve it: we shall defend the homes of Armenians with the same intensity that we defend the homes of all Lebanese, should the need arises. Hopefully, that will not come to pass. If things develop in that realm, there will be a huge danger on the Christians of Lebanon and on Lebanon overall. As the late Pope John Paul II said, Lebanon is a message to the Middle East and the stability and continuity of its Christians will strengthen the Christians of the Middle East overall. Rest assured that should we need to defend Lebanon, we shall not hesitate, as we did many times before.

Lebanon is the Phoenix, it rebuilds itself from its ashes and no matter how much they destroy, we will always rebuild.  We have undergone many occupations but we fought hard and our existence has never seized.  Our grandfathers have carved the stones and turned them into an eternal safe haven.  Today, we are seeing a dark cloud over the skies of Lebanon but our women will continue to give birth to Christians who will ensure our existence and pose the needed equilibrium in Lebanon’s diversity.

- Is there panic and fear in the streets of Beirut nowadays? Is it true, that people prefer to stand indoors?

- Not really. The Lebanese are resilient; they have seen worse. Not to forget, the bomb that killed General al-Hassan also nearly destroyed an entire neighborhood of Al Achrafiyeh, Beirut. That is not easy on either those who were directly affected or on those who were not but sympathize with them. We have witnessed the Lebanese solidarity at its best in the aftermath. That is, perhaps, the only bright side of this monumental tragedy.

- How Syrian conflict must be resolved and do you think that Syria is the last target of Arab spring?

- We hope that soon peace and serenity will occur in Syria and we hope to see an end to the destruction and internal conflicts, which we once suffered from in Lebanon for many years.  However, we must realize that the Syrian government is supported by big international players and that ensures its endurance and the same goes for the revolutionaries and the “ Syrian Free Army”.  Hence, we predict that the conflict will be long-lasting and could lead eventually to either the partition of Syria or to a never ending militia-like fighting.

Furthermore, is there really a Spring? That Spring is revealing to be more of an autumn or even a winter: too much killing and destruction along factional and sectarian lines. The Syrian Christians are targeted, along with all other Syrians.

Unfortunately, we’ve seen an extremist side ride the wave of the Arab revolutions in the Middle East and that has resulted in the endangerment of the minorities in the region.

Narine Daneghyan talked to Hanna Atik for Mediamax.