Saniora: Hizbullah Dragging Lebanon into Regional Crises

The head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora accused on Sunday Hizbullah of following Iran's bidding through its recent sending of an unmanned drone to fly over Israel.

He said during a seminar in the southern city of Sidon: “Hizbullah is dragging Lebanon towards military operations and a possible Israeli retaliation that the country has not been consulted over.”

“The party did not consult the government when it sent the drone over Israel and it therefore subjected national security and the Lebanese people to danger,” he continued.

The former premier noted that Hizbullah carried out a similar action in 2006 when it conducted a cross-border raid into Israel and kidnapped two soldiers, which sparked that year's 33-day war that stretched from July to August.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that Lebanon was victorious against Israel in the war, “but we were not victorious because Lebanon not only incurred major material damage, but it created a national division among the people that persists to this day,” Saniora added.

“This was all because Nasrallah took it upon himself to decide when Lebanon should wage a war because he simply can, without consulting any authority in Lebanon or its people,” he remarked.

Moreover, the flying of the drone demonstrates that it was conducted at Iran's behest, he said.

The expertise to fly the drone is only available in Iran, and it is therefore an Iranian action and Lebanon has been dragged into regional and international crises, noted the head of the Mustaqbal bloc.

“Despite the technical and military importance of the drone in its ability to escape radar detection, the development carries new dangers with it,” he continued.

Saniora said: “Hizbullah is involving Lebanon, the Lebanese people, and a huge sect of them in major crises.”

On Hizbullah's alleged involvement in the Syrian crisis, the former prime minister said: “The party tried to justify its actions in Syria through saying that some Lebanese people are residing in Syria and it was simply trying to arm them.”

In addition, he cited the recent death of a Hizbullah commander in Syria as another indication that the party is meddling in the Syrian crisis.

“The party has therefore paved the way for a crisis between the Lebanese and Syrian people,” he warned.

“Hizbullah is a main component of this government, which has only held high its policy of disassociation from the Syrian crisis. We find that the party is violating this policy and we know that the government is also selectively applying it,” he said.

Saniora accused Hizbullah of violating the main reason for which the national dialogue was resumed, adding that the explosion in Nabi Sheet earlier in October, the party's meddling in the Syrian crisis, and its sending of the drone over Israel eliminate the dialogue's purpose of devising a defense strategy for Lebanon.

“These three developments violate the agreements of the national dialogue that stressed the need for Lebanon to maintain a distance from the Syrian crisis,” he noted.

Three Hizbullah fighters were killed and several other people wounded on October 3 in a blast at a depot for old ammunition in the Bekaa town of Nabi Sheet, the party announced earlier this month.

“The blast took place at a storehouse for old shells and ammunition and the remnants of the Israeli attacks on the area,” it added.

“Hizbullah is not only linking Lebanon to regional crises, but Iran's international crisis over its nuclear program,” remarked Saniora.

He revealed that the contacts he made with recent leaderships in Lebanon were aimed at highlighting the dangers of dragging Lebanon into regional and international disputes.

“I believe that the various powers were receptive of my efforts and we hope they will be fruitful in that they will create a certain public opinion, which Nasrallah and Hizbullah officials must take not of seeing as they do not care for the Lebanese people's views,” he said.

“Nasrallah and the Hizbullah officials must abandon their arrogance and observe what the Lebanese people want,” he stressed.

“I believe that the people are not keen on being dragged to regional crises and I believe that if we asked Hizbullah's supporters of their opinions, we would find that a large portion of them do not back the party's recent actions,” he concluded.

Nasrallah on Thursday acknowledged that his group sent a sophisticated unmanned drone over Israel last week, saying the device was built by the Jewish state's arch-foe Iran.

His acknowledgment came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed at Hizbullah and vowed to defend his country against further "threats."

On October 6, the Israeli air force jets shot down the unarmed drone over southern Israel's Negev desert after it entered the country's airspace from the Mediterranean Sea.