Raad Says Hizbullah Won’t be Intimidated by 'Fabricated Battles'

The head of Hizbullah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Raad on Sunday stressed that his party “cannot be strong-armed” and that “fabricated battles” linked to the ongoing popular uprising in the country will not deviate Hizbullah’s attention from its main objectives.

“We cannot be strong-armed and neither partial concerns nor fabricated battles imposed by others every now and then can derail us from the course of fulfilling martyrs’ goals,” Raad said at a ceremony marking Hizbullah’s ‘Martyr Day’ in Nabatiyeh.

“Martyrs are the ones who created the sovereign atmosphere in which every change or reform seeker and every anti-corruption protester can be active,” Raad added.

“We share the goal of combating corruption, lifting immunity off corrupts and recovering stolen funds… with all the honest people who rose up and took to the streets… but we want others to respect our experience and realize that their movement is within the atmosphere provided to them by our martyrs, mujahideen and heroes,” Raad went on to say.

The Hizbullah lawmaker also warned the protest movement against “launching arbitrary accusations” or “hurling insults against icons, especially those related to the leadership of the purest, most honorable and noblest people.”

“We want to combat corruption, we respect others’ experience and we are keen on the success of their experience, and we warn them that someone might infiltrate their movement to take them into a course that would plunge the country into the wishes of the enemies,” Raad added.