Hariri Hits Back at Nasrallah over Terror Support Remarks

Prime Minister and al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri on Thursday snapped back at Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who has accused his movement of supporting terrorist groups.

“Days ago, al-Mustaqbal Movement was accused of backing Daesh (Islamic State group) and the terrorist groups. This is a totally baseless accusation, because we are the ones who rescued the country, offered martyrs and stood in the face of Daesh before anyone else did,” Hariri said during an electoral rally.

“Al-Mustaqbal Movement is the movement of moderation and it has protected the country. Had someone other than al-Mustaqbal Movement and Saad Hariri been in power, the country would have descended into the abyss,” the premier noted.

He added: “Accordingly, Hizbullah has no right to accuse us of funding extremism, seeing as if someone is funding extremism, it would be Hizbullah itself, through its actions and behavior.”

Nasrallah had on Tuesday accused Mustaqbal and the Lebanese Forces of “having ties” to the terrorist groups that had been entrenched in the outskirts of some eastern border towns.