March 14 Says only Army Protects Border, Confident Troops won't be Dragged to Battle outside Lebanon
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Officials in the March 14 coalition have stressed that only the Lebanese army should defend Lebanon after Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his party will attack militants in Syria's Qalamoun region that lies on the border with Lebanon.
“Only the legitimate armed forces led by the army and its troops should defend Lebanon from the fire that could erupt on Lebanon's border,” the March 14 leaders told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat published Thursday.
Nasrallah said in a televised speech late Tuesday that his group will attack al-Nusra Front and Islamic State fighters in Qalamoun, adding that "time will tell" when the battle will become full blown.
He stressed there will be no formal announcement before the widely anticipated battle begins.
March 14 sources also expressed confidence that the Lebanese army will not be dragged into a battle outside Lebanese territories.
The unidentified sources made their remarks to An Nahar newspaper.
Al-Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat, who is a member of the March 14 alliance, expressed similar viewpoints.
He told the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah daily that “the protection of the Lebanese border is the mission of the Lebanese army and not that of Hizbullah.”
Fatfat said that Nasrallah's warning on preparations for the Qalamoun battle aims at upping the morale of the Syrian-Iranian axis, whose plans are being implemented by the Shiite party in Lebanon and Syria.
The Qalamoun region was a stronghold of rebel forces until a major operation by Syrian regime troops backed by Hizbullah fighters last year.
While most of the region was recaptured, opposition militants and jihadists remain entrenched in the mountainous area that runs directly along the border, which is porous and ill-defined.
07 May 2015, 08:43
92
March 14 wants the army to sit on their hands and let their throats be slit, voluntarily by takfiris.
07 May 2015, 09:14
35
@Mystic
wrong comment. I am expecting our army to fight ferociously these terrorists and preventing them to enter or harm Lebanon
God bless our army
07 May 2015, 09:38
52
What is wrong? March 14 are the ones holding the army back, by telling what it can do and not do.
07 May 2015, 09:49
54
Our soldiers and officers are putting their lives on the line protecting Lebanon while the crazy bearded Shiites are killing the crazy bearded Sunnis and vice "bearded" versa.
May Hezbollah, Al Nusrah, Al Qaeda, ISIL, Daesh all burn for their beliefs.
07 May 2015, 10:40
43
Now our army should pay the price of HexbEbola's adventures... we are tired of paying for their adventures in the south, in Syria... who do they think they are already! We are the hostages of HezbEbola!
1 Nation, 1 Army!
Or else, let us federate, and Hezb can fight for their mini-state as much as they want, while we work, party, and leave in peace and prosperity!
07 May 2015, 12:30
32
Sayed Hassan obviously can say whatever he wants, at the end of the day he still has his private media all to himself. But I am one who certainly subscribes to the view that only the LAF should defend and protect our borders, all of our borders and without any exception. It is also my opinion that Hezbollah has in the past forced its will on the state by making it sign that infamous defense triangulation of Sate and resistance strategy, since then heavily abused by HA till now. That document should now be scrapped or at least at the earliest possible opportunity, as it was from day one a protocol that hampered Lebanon's interests. Hezbollah obviously is free to go and fight in Syria even though the repercussions of this meddling is costing us a lot, it can go to Yemen, Bahrain, wherever it wants, but in Lebanon we have the army, period.
07 May 2015, 17:55
12
Whyask, I agree the LAF must leave Hezbollah assume the responsibility of its meddling in Syria. Ask general Qahwaji said yesterday, the army will not be dragged into conflicts outside of Lebanon, and so it will stay. Hezbollah's tricks no longer work and now it shows a good degree of an emancipated army.
07 May 2015, 19:36
01
that is the goal of assad and hezbollah to justify their killings: to drag the LAF into syria to side with bashar... but hopefully the army is smarter!
