Hizbullah's al-Manar TV Hits Back at Macron
Hizbullah's al-Manar TV blasted French President Emmanuel Macron in its main news editorial Monday night, telling him that Hizbullah "is and will remain an army facing Israel and will keep supporting Syria and its people against extremists."
It added that Hizbullah and its allies are not to blame for PM-designate Mustafa Adib's failure in forming a Cabinet, saying that Macron's threats of possible sanctions in the future against politicians are "unjustified and unacceptable."
Al-Manar also asked whether Macron wants Hizbullah and its allies, who have majority seats in Parliament, to give power to groups allied with the United States.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to make a televised address on the developments at 8:30 pm Tuesday.
At a rare news conference devoted to Lebanon on Sunday, Macron had warned that Hizbullah should "not think it is more powerful than it is."
"It must show that it respects all the Lebanese. And in recent days days, it has clearly shown the opposite," said Macron.
"Hizbullah cannot be an army in a war against Israel and a militia taking part in Syria's war and still be a respectable party in Lebanon," he said.
"Amal and Hizbullah decided that nothing should change in Lebanon and I understood that Hizbullah did not honor the pledge it made to me," the French leader added.
Macron did not limit his sharp criticism to Hizbullah, saying none of the leaders of Lebanon had been up to the task.
"All of them bet on the worst case scenario for the sake of saving themselves, the interests of their family or their clan," he seethed.
"I therefore have decided to take note of this collective betrayal and the refusal of Lebanese officials to engage in good faith," Macron added.
The French leader also said that ex-PM Saad Hariri "erred by adding a sectarian factor to the roadmap" of forming a new government.
Source: Associated Press, Naharnet
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