Report: Assad Says Hizbullah a Model for Syria
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Syria will "give Hizbullah everything" in recognition of its support and will follow the militant group's model of "resistance" against Israel, al-Akhbar newspaper on Thursday quoted President Bashar Assad as saying.
His comment reportedly came during meetings with Lebanese visitors in Damascus and appeared intended to refute any suggestion that Israeli raids on Syrian targets would halt assistance to Hizbullah.
The newspaper said visitors quoted Assad as expressing "confidence, satisfaction and great gratitude towards Hizbullah."
The organization is a long-time ally of the Syrian regime and has sent fighters to battle alongside Assad's troops, particularly in the Qusayr district of the central province of Homs.
Damascus has long served as a supply conduit for Iran-backed Hizbullah, and Assad said they would reward the group for their loyalty.
"We have decided to give them everything," the newspaper quoted him as saying, without elaborating.
"For the first time we feel that we and they are living in the same situation and they are not just an ally we help with resistance," he said.
"We have decided that we must move forward towards them and turn into a nation of resistance like Hizbullah, for the sake of Syria and future generations."
Assad was quoted as saying Syria could "easily" respond to Israeli air strikes by "firing a few rockets at Israel."
"But we want strategic revenge, by opening the door of resistance and turning all of Syria into a country of resistance."
"After the strike, we are convinced that we are fighting the enemy now, we are pursuing its soldiers deployed throughout our country," he said, in apparent reference to rebel forces, which the regime has accused of being allied with Israel.
The Jewish state reportedly carried out two raids last week against military targets inside Syria, killing dozens of military personnel.
Israeli sources said the strikes targeted weapons bound for Hizbullah.
Israel has warned repeatedly that it will not allow Syria to transfer advanced weaponry to the Lebanese group, with which it fought a devastating war in 2006.
Israeli warplanes hit targets inside Syria early on Friday and Sunday mornings, raising new fears that the Syrian conflict, which is now in its third year, could draw in the rest of the region.
09 May 2013, 11:13
77
You have to admit, Assad's family always knew how to get Lebanon involved in any conflict.
09 May 2013, 11:25
37
bla bla .. same same ... one of the last dictators must fall taking along with him his bearded minnion!
09 May 2013, 11:55
59
he is just desperate and needs the Hizb help to kill more of his own people.
09 May 2013, 14:03
26
Syria will "give Hizbullah everything".... they forget to say "what is left"...
09 May 2013, 15:18
210
what have they giving lebanon apart from destruction ..you forget the last war cost 2800 lives and 10 billion in damage ..cowards are the ones that stay silent.
09 May 2013, 16:23
36
@the_roar
Violent reaction doesn't work and never has worked. Go ask Ghandi and Mandela. Hezbollah may deter Israeli aggression, but it is also a very polarizing figure in the region, especially since it sides with a tyrannical regime. It has directly lead to increased radicalization in the region, and its unilateral decision-making on issues that do not have full support of all Lebanese (such as sending a drone) further polarizes it. It is seen as a Shiite organization, not a Lebanese one, and one that has sided with a regime that is responsible for killing many, many innocent Sunni civilians.
A military institution that stands up for all of Lebanon should be accepted by all Lebanese and seen as representing all of Lebanon. Unfortunately, Hezbollah has lost that image, and it has therefore lost the privilege (not a right) to self-uphold itself as Lebanon's guardian.
09 May 2013, 18:29
25
There would be on Israeli aggression against Lebanon in the first place if not for hezbollah. What do you think Israel just woke up one day and decided to bomb lebanon for no reason?
09 May 2013, 19:49
22
"israel lost 3.5 billion$ and 120 dead. pretty good ratio if you ask me."
typical M8 stupidity.... you have to compare these figures with the GDP of the country... the losses for lebanon were huge but very little for israel.... so your admiration for this shows how idiot FPmers can be
09 May 2013, 21:24
11
th e roar: the same advice to you: do your research and you ll see who has lost the more in this conflict materially and financially speaking!
09 May 2013, 23:24
00
the_roar. Hizbullah was damn necessary at a time when there were strong sectarian divides in Lebanon. Throughout the civil war, with the PLO moving in and setting up shop in the south, the shiiah were peaceful, largely uneducated (please don't take this as a demeaning statement), and did nothing to interrupt other people's lives or intrude. Palestinian refugees were housed and cared for by these wonderful people, but when armed factions joined the migration, it put the Lebanese populations under direct threat of Israeli reprisals. The Israelis, in their inhumane ways exacted extreme prejudice against anybody in the region. The lebanese government at the time, even though it chose to incorporate the south as Lebanese, did nothing to protect these people.
09 May 2013, 23:28
01
My issue with hizbullah is that when all the sects chose to minimize the influence of their financial backers, Syria and Iran were the only countries that did not fudge off. These same countries are exacting Lebanese policy through hizbullah. There is nothing Lebanese left in them.
10 May 2013, 10:45
00
the_roar ..I don't give a crap about the hizb.as for shia i have nothing against them.i am not sectarian ,i feel for the innocent Lebanese that get killed in wars that they have no interest in.you also forget the hizb was begging for the war to stop if it went on much longer they would have been wiped out ..war is about logistic.its about how quickly you can re supply your arms.
09 May 2013, 14:43
00
The master patting his turbaned puppy on the head. "Good boy; now go kill some more."
09 May 2013, 15:48
24
This is where the war in Syria is headed. The Sunni fundamentalists will have the north and the east of Syria and the Hezbollah, Iranians and Alawites will have the south and the West. There will be a very long green line. A permanent front. What Assad is saying here is documented in a recent paper issued by the Institute for the Study of War titled "Iranian Strategy in Syria". A 150,000 man force will be assembled made of IRGC, Hezbollah, Shabiha and Alawite remnants of the current regime and this will become the new front line for Iran against Israel. It is the end game. The only good thing is that Lebanon will no longer be needed by Iran as its front line on Israel.
09 May 2013, 15:51
22
In order for Lebanon not to get sucked into the partition of Syria and the transformation of Syria into a front line confrontation state, Lebanon must make its institutions of government more stable. They currently are not.
The Parliament has to be reformed to institutionalize the concepts of allowing Majority Rule and protecting Minority Rights. The Executive has to become a functioning government rather than a patronage prize for the political class and the judiciary must become truly independent of the other two branches of government. It is the only way for Lebanon to withstand the sucking sound that will be coming from Syria.
09 May 2013, 16:16
25
Hezbollah, an organization that once stood for the oppressed, somehow justifies siding with a regime that is indiscriminately firing on residential areas and was fueled with corruption even prior to the uprising. FT, mowaten, somebody, please, justify this. I understand the political reasoning, but you simply cannot provide a moral reason as to why someone should stand by the regime. Forget the crimes of some opposition groups, I am solely asking about the regime. It committed crimes before the uprising and before any opposition groups took arms. You simply cannot legitimately defend the regime.
09 May 2013, 19:53
11
think who is the cause of these extremists? bashar and indirectly your M8 friends... by letting the situation rot and minimizing its importance it was obvious the conflict will come to that....qo blame your friends little FPMer microbe....<
09 May 2013, 17:16
00
“Syria could "easily" respond to Israeli air strikes by "firing a few rockets at Israel but we want strategic revenge, by opening the door of resistance and turning all of Syria into a country of resistance." Of course, after years and years of stability on the Golan borders, not a bullet fired across, to maintain stability, prosperity and sustainable tourism activities… Lebanon was the experimental lab and the only formal resistance spot in the Arab world… Who cares about economy, tourism and stability in Lebanon anyways! But now that Syria is a big mess, let’s go on a resistance mission…
09 May 2013, 19:57
00
Hey FT .Dont know where you go your figures from.
According to the UN there was 1600 lebanese and 12 israelis .5 billion in destruction ,600millions in Israel .
The results?israel got paid US3500$ for each tree that was burnt ,Lebanon on the other hand got a bit of help from the ones you called Gods in 2006 and evils in 2012 (Qatar).
Yes it was a good whipping,do why dont you go for it every summer????
You are unbelievable ,3 weeks ago you were calling for death to anyone getting involved in war in Syria ,now you have changed your mind.
You consider Israel as an enemy and you believe the lebanese should always unite in fighting against the israelis,but u seem to forget and forgive all the butchering done by the Assad family in lebanon.
Try to justify your position and explain it to someone who has lost 5 of his immediate family on the hands of the butcher ,your master hafez and his son bashar !!!!
09 May 2013, 20:11
00
Look at Kerry and Lavrov... smiles all around. Assad is finished. The violence must stop, and Syria must start to rebuild. Syria will simply be without 100,000 citizen who have perished in this insanity.
09 May 2013, 22:43
13
LOL to Assad.... His model will evetually sell him out just like they sold they Lebanese fellow men fora few rockets.
10 May 2013, 05:21
01
Hoping that Israel will get further involved and get rid of ASSad and Hizb in one scoop.
I'm surprised that the rest of Lebanon doen't revolt against Hezb. We had enough. We shouldn't be afraid anymore. They are the freggin enemy. They are the only thing standing in the way of Lebanon's prosperity.
