Suleiman Says he Wants to Protect Resistance but Stresses Hizbullah Mistaken in Syria War
President Michel Suleiman said Thursday that Hizbullah made a mistake in getting involved in Syria's war, adding the party should bring back its fighters to Lebanon to avoid further security incidents in the country.
“I warned them amicably about this issue. I wasn't disloyal or oblivious,” Suleiman told As Safir newspaper.
He said he would preserve the resistance but “I also want to protect it from itself.”
“If it participates in the battles of Aleppo and more of the party's members are killed, then there would be more tension” in Lebanon, Suleiman said. “This should stop in Qusayr and they should return to Lebanon.”
“The recent incidents (in Lebanon) will continue if the involvement in Syria doesn't stop,” Suleiman warned.
Hizbullah was credited with an important role in the Syrian army's recapture of the rebel stronghold of Qusayr in central Homs province earlier this month.
The regime has said it plans to build on that victory by trying to retake large parts of the northern city of Aleppo and its surrounding province, but it is unclear whether Hizbullah has joined that operation.
“When I find Hizbullah's behavior wrong then I become honest with it,” Suleiman said.
He also lashed out at Hizbullah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem for his criticism on his latest conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama.
“Those who are keen on Lebanon should not be subject to the U.S. dictates under the excuse of defending constitutional institutions and do not stand in the same trench of the American-Israeli project,” said Qassem on Wednesday.
But Suleiman stressed to As Safir that when Obama expressed concern over Hizbullah's involvement in Syria's war, he said he was also concerned over the meddling of all Lebanese parties in the neighboring country.
“We had reached consensus on the Baabda declaration to prevent interference but unfortunately all the parties did not commit to it,” Suleiman said he told Obama.
The president stressed that he had the best of ties with Syria but that the Assad regime had initiated at filing complaints against Lebanon with the U.N.
Suleiman has been criticized by several members of the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance for handing on Tuesday a memo to U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly on the Syrian violations of Lebanese sovereignty
The president's unprecedented move came after caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour procrastinated in sending the memo to the U.N.
In a statement he issued Thursday, Suleiman contemned Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace and the dropping of flares over the South.
He accused the Jewish state of violating international resolutions, mainly 1701, and urged the international community and the U.N. Security Council to thwart the attacks on its neighboring countries.
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