Hezbollah official hits out at Mikati, Bou Habib

Senior Hezbollah official Sayyed Hashem Saffieddine on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati and caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib without naming them, in connection with their criticism of Hezbollah's sending of three drones on Saturday towards the Karish gas field.

"What we witnessed in Lebanon days ago, in the files of the confrontation with the enemy and obtaining our rights and resources, and the files of running the country and bread, flour, medicine and crises, clearly indicates that a lot of politicians in Lebanon are hypocrites and are deceiving the people," Saffieddine, who is the head of Hezbollah's Executive Council, said.

"He who wants to work in public affairs must be a real man who shoulders responsibility," the Hezbollah official added.

"Our problem lies in the presence of a class or a group in Lebanon whose choices are always narrow, because they fear the Americans and some Gulf countries," Safieddine added.

"And then someone -- who is either scared or doesn't know how to act or has his ears and head in the U.S. embassy -- decides to warn, threaten and limit us to certain stances, but countries cannot be built with such stances, but rather through action, bravery and sacrifices," the Hezbollah official went on to say, apparently referring to the Mikati-Bou Habib statement.

He also charged that "America wants Lebanon to be a decayed and weak country in order to achieve the Israeli objectives regarding gas and other issues."