Mustaqbal Urges Suleiman to Act over Mansour Stance, Hizbullah 'Interference' in Syria

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday urged President Michel Suleiman to act in order to spare Lebanon the “consequences” of Hizbullah's “participation” in the Syrian military conflict and the controversial remarks voiced by Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour at the Arab League.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc also “strongly condemned the remarks voiced by Hizbullah Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem, who confirmed once again the participation in combat alongside the Syrian regime and admitted arming and training gunmen fighting in Syria.”

“Through this involvement and participation in the armed conflict in Syria, as well as in other conflicts in other countries, Hizbullah is putting Lebanon and its security and stability in great danger,” the bloc added.

And as it noted that Hizbullah has “transformed” from a resistance movement into “a security-military tool in Iran's hand,” the bloc accused the party of undermining the government's so-called self-dissociation policy by “intervening in the armed conflict in Syria and through the unofficial and condemned instructions it is giving to the foreign minister.”

Al-Mustaqbal also slammed Mansour, saying “he has insisted on his stance, in defiance of the constitution and of government's declared policies.”

Separately, the bloc condemned “the Israeli enemy's continued violations of Lebanon's sovereignty, the last of which was the airspace violation that happened today (Tuesday), and the violations of the Syrian regime's army which has been shelling northern towns and villages.”

Highlighting “the role of the Lebanese army in protecting the border,” the bloc called on the government to “request the assistance of U.N. forces in northern and eastern Lebanon, like it did in the South, so that the Lebanese army can enhance its efforts to preserve security domestically … amid the growing repercussions of the armed conflict in Syria on Lebanon.”

The bloc also stressed its “commitment to the March 14 alliance and the firm foundations that no one can abandon as they represent the pillars of Lebanon's resurrection.”

“We stress that the March 14 alliance is built upon the principles of the (Independence) Uprising and that we will not back down on them, but will rather consolidate them in the face of tyranny, hegemony and the attempts to renounce the Taef Accord.”