Italy Warns Hizbullah Intervention in Syria May Lead to 'Vengeance' in Lebanon
Italy's foreign ministry on Wednesday condemned Hizbullah's military intervention in the Syrian conflict, warning that it might lead to retaliatory attacks inside Lebanon.
“Italy condemns Hizbullah's intervention in the ongoing war in Syria -- an intervention that has been publicly announced by the organization,” Italian news agency AKI quoted Foreign Minister Emma Bonino as saying during a joint hearing before the foreign affairs and defense committees at the parliament and senate.
In addition to complicating efforts to “resolve the conflict,” the presence of Hizbullah's fighters in Syria “puts the Lebanese society at the risk of vengeance,” Bonino added.
The agency also quoted Defense Minister Mario Mauro as saying that “the religious, political and cultural tensions in Lebanon have been dangerously intertwined with the elements of instability created by the Syrian crisis.”
“There is a real threat that the conflict might spill over into the neighboring territories and countries,” Mauro warned.
He also noted that the increase in the number of refugees in Lebanon “will destabilize such a small country.”
Turning to the issue of his country's contribution to the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the minister stressed Italy's commitment to the peacekeeping force.
Last week, Syrian regime forces backed by Hizbullah fighters managed to recapture the strategic town of Qusayr near the Lebanese border from rebel hands, following a fierce assault.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had previously justified the group's involvement in Syria by saying they were defending Lebanese-inhabited border villages inside Syria and Shiite holy sites.
But during a May 25 speech marking the 13th anniversary of Israel's military withdrawal from Lebanon, Nasrallah said “if Syria falls in the hands of the Takfiris and the United States, the resistance will become under a siege and Israel will enter Lebanon. If Syria falls, the Palestinian cause will be lost.”
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