BEIRUT: Condemnations and thinly veiled insults continued to be made against President Emile Lahoud on Tuesday, as politicians demanded that the president "stop misleading the people". Former President Amin Gemayel said "what is important now is to rid the country of the remaining security apparatus," adding that "President Lahoud is part of that system and is protecting it."

Gemayel's comments were made to the Al-Jazeera TV station Tuesday, and mainly concerned an interview with former Syrian Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam broadcast on Al-Arabiyya TV last Friday and Saturday.

Gemayel said Khaddam's revelations represent "a new embarrassment for President Lahoud, who is putting a lot of constraints on the government and hindering it from making the necessary changes to the security apparatuses."

He added that the presidency itself is now under a "vicious assault," recalling Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir asked Lahoud to "learn from the past." The Phalange Party leader said "it is up to the president to make a decision that will serve the country."

Gemayel blamed the political impasse in Lebanon on the campaign against Lahoud and the general belief Lahoud had a "direct or moral involvement (in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri) because of the suspects among those close to the presidency."