Rifi Affirms Yemeni Accusations on Hizbullah’s Interferences in Arab States
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 25/16/
Following Yemen’s accusations that Hizbullah is sending fighters to engage in battles along the ranks of the Huthi rebels, former Minister Ashraf Rifi acknowledged the accusations and emphasized that Lebanon must not be used as a platform to launch verbal attacks against brethren countries. “Hizbullah has trained a lot of fighters in Bahrain, Yemen, Iraq and Syria,” Rifi said in a televised appearance on al-Arabiya TV channel. “It has engaged in battles against our people in Syria, Iraq and Yemen in addition to its participation in terrorist acts and military operations in some foreign countries,” he stated. “Lebanon must not be used as a platform to launch attacks at brethren and friendly nations,” concluded the ex-Minister. For his part, Lebanese Forces official MP Antoine Zahra noted that he was not surprised of Hizbullah’s interventions in crisis-torn countries, he said: “The party is an Iranian tool in the hands of Tehran which moves it according to its own interests whether be that in Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Kuwait and even in the Eastern Province in Saudi Arabia, if it was able to do so.”Zahra added: “The major problem lies in the fact that this party considers itself above the law and some parties in the government are not doing what should be done to deter it.” On Wednesday, Yemen’s embattled government accused Shiite Hizbullah party of sending fighters to support Iran-backed Huthi rebels controlling parts of the war-ravaged country including the capital. The government has evidence of “Hizbullah’s involvement in the Huthi war against the Yemeni people,” its spokesman Rajih Badi said in a statement published by the official sabanew.net website. Hizbullah militants are present in “the battlefields along the border with Saudi Arabia,” where attacks from Yemen have killed about 90 civilians and soldiers in the kingdom since March last year, said Badi. Hizbullah is taking part in the Yemeni war on the ground by training the Shiite Huthis and orchestrating attacks against Saudi Arabia, said Badi, urging “international legal measures” against the movement. “This evidence is documented and Hizbullah cannot deny its role in the destruction it is contributing to through the clear moral and logistic support” for the rebels, said Badi. Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab coalition battling the Huthis and their allies since last March in support of the government. The United Nations says the war has left more than 6,000 people dead. The government moved to the southern city of Aden after the Huthis captured the capital Sanaa in 2014. However, most of its senior officials, including President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, spend most of their time in Riyadh against a backdrop of worsening security. Riyadh said last week it had halted a total of $4 billion military funding program for Beirut in response to “hostile” positions linked to Hizbullah, which is also fighting opponents of the Syrian regime. In a statement, Iran-backed Hizbullah said Saudi Arabia stopped the military aid because of economic pressures from the war in Yemen and lower oil revenues. Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with its regional rival Tehran last month after demonstrators stormed its embassy and a consulate following the Saudi execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.
Hariri Slams Hizbullah ‘Documented Killing’ in Arab Countries, Vows Peaceful Confrontation
Naharnet/February 25/16/
Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri stressed Thursday that Hizbullah’s terror accusations against Saudi Arabia are baseless while noting that the party’s “practices, crimes and killing of others” in some Arab countries are “documented” and corroborated. “There are efforts to establish a truce (in Syria) and we hope it will last, but the final solution will eventually oust Bashar Assad and Hizbullah’s members and militants will have to return to Lebanon,” said Hariri during a Center House meeting with a delegation representing Lebanon’s Arab tribes.“What would the party say to the families and relatives of thousands of militants left dead, wounded or disabled by the fighting alongside Assad’s dictatorial regime? How would it justify what happened?” the ex-PM asked. Hizbullah has deployed at least 6,000 militants to fight alongside Assad’s forces against Islamist-led rebels and jihadists and around 1,000 Hizbullah members have been killed in Syria since the start of the conflict. The party argues that its intervention was necessary to protect Lebanon from extremist groups and to prevent the fall of Syria into the hands of hostile forces. “We frequently hear accusations that the kingdom is exporting terror. We want a single evidence or recording that confirms their baseless accusations,” Hariri added, referring to recent speeches by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who has accused Riyadh of backing terrorist groups in Yemen, Iraq and Syria. “Meanwhile, Hizbullah’s practices, crimes and killing of others are documented and substantiated by countless pieces of evidence, from Syria to Iraq and from Bahrain to Kuwait, Yemen and other countries,” the former premier charged. “These practices are being committed in public and the evidence is in everyone’s reach. We reject these practices that Lebanon cannot withstand,” Hariri told the delegation. Mustaqbal’s leader pledged to cling to “the project aimed at rescuing Lebanon” and to raise the voice high against “Hizbullah’s practices and violations at home and abroad.”“We are observing what’s happening in Iraq and Syria and we must exert all efforts possible to insulate Lebanon from what’s happening in these two nearby countries,” Hariri added. “The same as we managed to kick out the Syrian army from Lebanon without any violence, we are capable through our unity to face all challenges and threats and return the project of the state to the right track,” he went on to say. His remarks come a day after Yemen’s embattled government accused Hizbullah of sending fighters to support Iran-backed Huthi rebels controlling parts of the war-ravaged country including the capital. The government has evidence of “Hizbillah’s involvement in the Huthi war against the Yemeni people,” its spokesman Rajih Badi said. Hizbullah is taking part in the Yemeni war on the ground by training the Shiite Huthis and orchestrating attacks against Saudi Arabia, said Badi, urging “international legal measures” against the movement. “This evidence is documented and Hizbullah cannot deny its role in the destruction it is contributing to through the clear moral and logistic support” for the rebels, said Badi. Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab coalition battling the Huthis and their allies since last March in support of the government. Riyadh said last week it had halted a $3 billion military funding program for Lebanon in response to “hostile” positions linked to Hizbullah. In a statement, Iran-backed Hizbullah said Saudi Arabia stopped the military aid because of economic pressures from the war in Yemen and lower oil revenues. Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with its regional rival Tehran last month after demonstrators stormed its embassy and a consulate following the Saudi execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.