Rifi Slams Jubilation over Yabrud, Says to Seek Hizbullah Syria Exit in State Institutes
Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi on Sunday announced that his priority in the new cabinet will be seeking the withdrawal of Hizbullah from Syria, describing the fall of the Syrian rebel bastion of Yabrud as an “illusionary” victory and slamming the celebrations of Hizbullah's supporters in several Lebanese areas.
“In the wake of the successive events in Syria, the last of which was what happened in the town of Yabrud and the cross-border exodus into Arsal, we reiterate our warning against this rejected involvement in Syrian affairs, which exposes Lebanon to a definite danger,” Rifi said in a communique.
“Accordingly, the top priority of our work in state institutions will be demanding the withdrawal of Hizbullah from Syria, as well as everyone who was involved in the fighting there, in addition to dismantling autonomous security and deploying the army and security forces on the border, especially in the Arsal region and its surroundings and on the northern border with Syria,” Rifi added.
Addressing the jubilation in some Lebanese areas that are sympathetic to Hizbullah over Yabrud's fall, Rifi condemned what he described as “show-off celebrations.”
“Days will prove that these victories are ephemeral and illusionary,” Rifi said, noting that the jubilation acts have become “a detestable tradition of dancing over the blood of the innocent Syrian people and over the ruins of its devastated cities.”
Celebrations “lack wisdom and will lead to aggravating the sentiments of division and hatred,” Rifi warned.
The Syrian army and Hizbullah seized full control of the rebel bastion Yabrud earlier on Sunday, dealing the opposition a heavy symbolic and strategic blow in the Qalamoun region adjoining the Lebanese border.
In addition to its symbolic importance, the town is a key strategic prize because of its proximity to the highway and the Lebanese border, across which rebels have smuggled fighters and weapons.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group relying on a network of contacts inside Syria, said Hizbullah had led the operation.
The town's seizure could also place new pressure on Lebanon's Arsal, which is hosting at least 51,000 Syrian refugees, many from the Qalamoun region.
Sunni Arsal is largely sympathetic to the Sunni-led uprising, and rebel fighters are believed to have bases in areas around the town, which are regularly targeted by Syrian war planes.
Yabrud's capture was celebrated in Damascus by hundreds of residents who took to the streets to celebrate. And in Lebanon, Hizbullah supporters fired celebratory gunshots in the air in Beirut and its southern suburbs. They also distributed sweets and roamed streets in jubilant convoys.
Hizbullah's involvement in Syria has prompted retaliatory bomb and rocket attacks by extremist groups against areas in Lebanon sympathetic to the movement. The attacks have mostly killed civilians.
The group and Lebanese security forces have said many of the car bombs used in those attacks originated in Yabrud.
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