France Says Syria 'Likely' Involved in al-Hasan Assassination
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Sunday that Syria was probably involved in the Ashrafiyeh car bombing that killed Intelligence Bureau chief Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan and at least three other people.
"It is likely... Everything indicates that this is an extension of the Syrian tragedy," Fabius told French television, accusing Syrian President Bashar Assad of spreading his country's conflict beyond its borders.
"I wish to express how much we condemn this dreadful attack, how much we are in solidarity with the Lebanese people and government," Fabius said.
He called Assad a "manipulator" who wanted to spread the "contagion to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon."
The French foreign minister also accused Hizbullah of involvement in the Syrian conflict.
"Hizbullah is in the Lebanese government and we don't see much of their role," he said. "But their presence in the conflict has been apparent in the past few days, such as the drone which overflew Israel."
On October 6, a drone sent by Hizbullah managed to enter Israeli air space before being shot down near the Dimona nuclear reactor.
Fabius said that Hizbullah, which is backed by Iran, wanted to "demonstrate more clearly" their support for Assad's regime, adding: "We cannot accept that."
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had boasted that his group sent the sophisticated unmanned drone and said the device was built by the Jewish state's arch-foe Iran.
Source: Agence France Presse
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