Hale Urges Hizbullah to Stop 'Contributing' to Syria War, Says Regime a 'Magnet' for Takfiri Groups

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale on Tuesday called on Hizbullah to stop contributing to the Syrian conflict, describing the Assad regime as the "magnet" that has been attracting extremist groups into Syria and into Lebanon.

“We oppose terrorism in all its forms and frankly the Assad regime has been the magnet that's been bringing the extremist, takfiri terrorist threat here, into Lebanon and into Syria,” Hale said during an interview on LBCI television.

“The perpetuation of the conflict is what is giving those movements the opportunity to do what they're doing, which is very dangerous,” he warned.

The U.S. ambassador pointed out that “anyone who is lending support to the Assad support is frankly lending support to the continuation of the conflict and therefore allowing these movements to grow.”

“We should stop that; Hizbullah should understand that dynamic and should help to bring about a peaceful solution rather than contributing to the conflict,” Hale added.

He stressed that Washington supports the “moderate opposition” in Syria and that it does not “in any way” support the “extremists.”

“In fact we have policies and sanctions in order to contain them,” he went on to say.

Commenting on the issue of the meeting of the International Support Group for Lebanon that will be held in Paris on Wednesday, Hale said the international community will express "strong support for Lebanon, its stability and efforts to insulate it from the Syrian spillover."

"The U.S. has contributed $340 million since the Syrian crisis began to help Lebanese communities deal with the Syrian refugee problem," the envoy said.

But he noted that "financial answers are not the final answer."

"We need a political solution for the conflict in Syria to bring that conflict to an end," said Hale.

He stated that at the Paris conference, the participating countries will discuss "how we can fight terrorism and help support the refugee burden."

"The U.S. and our allies have a common set of goals for Lebanon: Lebanon’s stability, prosperity, its independence and freedom," said Hale.

On the issue of the upcoming presidential elections, Hale said: "We want to make sure that a vacancy is avoided to the extent we can contribute to that process."

"But ultimately the responsibility lies on the shoulders of Lebanon’s leaders to help avoid that," Hale added.

Asked how the talks between Iran and the international community will affect Lebanon, the ambassador said: "The P5+1 talks with Iran are focused on the nuclear file. We’re not talking about the region or Lebanon."

"We’re not going to get there through tradeoffs or deals or trading one set of interests against another set of interests," he added.