Hariri: Govt. Allowing Hizbullah to Jeopardize National Security through Meddling in Syria Conflict
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri criticized on Thursday the government's silence over Hizbullah members' alleged fighting in Syria alongside regime forces.
He slammed in a statement “the unconscious government's allowing of Hizbullah to jeopardize national security through its intervention in the conflict.”
Resistance is no longer Hizbullah's main purpose and it is employing armed groups to back the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, he added.
The former premier wondered at how the party is launching attacks against the Free Syrian Army from Lebanese and Syrian soil.
“We completely reject any form of military meddling in Syrian internal affairs, whether they fall in favor of the regime or the opposition,” declared Hariri.
“What happened to the government's policy of disassociation or does this policy exempt Hizbullah from involving Lebanon in the Syrian crisis?” he asked.
“Does this policy allow the party the exclusive right to employ arms on the Lebanese-Syrian front?” he wondered.
“What is Hizbullah doing on the Syrian front and who gave it the authority to defend the Lebanese border if we are assuming that it is seeking to halt the attack of Syrian armed groups?” continued Hariri.
“Assuming that Hizbullah is protecting Shiite citizens, then does that mean that the party has been transformed into an army aimed at defending a certain component of Lebanese society?” he asked.
“Has the government chosen to disassociate itself from Lebanese citizens that the party is saying are in danger?” he said.
“What is the role of the army in this situation and why hasn't the government spoken out over this issue?” he wondered.
“Hizbullah is presenting new evidence of the danger of the use of the illegitimate weapons, … which it is using for interests that do not serve national ones,” noted the former prime minister.
Furthermore, he accused Hizbullah's main backer Iran of employing the party to save the Assad regime through allowing it to take control of the Homs front.
“Lebanon will not deign to be transformed into an open ground to achieve this dirty mission and the government is completely responsible for the silence over this terrible squandering of national security,” stated Hariri.
Earlier this week, the rebel FSA accused Hizbullah of firing across the border into territory it controls, threatening to shell party positions in Lebanon in retaliation.
“In the past week... Hizbullah has been shelling into villages around Qusayr from Lebanese territory, and that we cannot accept," said the FSA's chief of staff General Selim Idriss, adding that the rebels have given Hizbullah a 48-hour deadline to stop the attacks.
“We cannot accept Hizbullah abusing Lebanese sovereignty to shell Syrian territory and FSA positions," declared the rebel commander.
Specifically, he accused Hizbullah of shelling villages and rebel positions around the insurgent-held town of Qusayr, which is located in the central Syrian province of Homs.
Three Lebanese Shiites have been killed in fighting in Syria, a Hizbullah official said Sunday.
He said they were acting in "self-defense,” without specifying if they were Hizbullah members.
Hizbullah has systematically denied sending fighters into Syria, though its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged in October 2012 that party members had fought Syrian rebels but said they were acting as individuals and not under the group's direction.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the three slain Lebanese were members of pro-regime militias who had been trained by Hizbullah.
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