Qaouq: Hizbullah Assumption of Health Ministry Post Exposes U.S. Waning Role
Hizbullah Central Council official Sheikh Nabil Qaouq announced Sunday that the allocation of the health ministry portfolio to a Hizbullah minister has exposed the magnitude of “U.S. decline” in Lebanon.
“America had publicly placed a veto on Hizbullah’s participation in the government and on it getting the health portfolio, but the assumption of Hizbullah of the health ministry post has toppled the American veto and exposed the extent of the decline in the U.S. role and influence in Lebanon,” Qaouq said.
“Despite all the U.S. diplomatic mobilization and the pressures that were practiced against the Lebanese, America was surprised by the unanimous national stance that rejected the U.S. veto on Hizbullah,” the Hizbullah official boasted.
“This proves the political decline of America in Lebanon and the fact that Hizbullah has boosted its political strength in Lebanon,” he added.
The U.S. State Department had announced in recent days that Washington is “concerned that Hizbullah, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, will continue to occupy ministerial positions and was allowed to name the Minister of Public Health.”
“We call on the new government to ensure the resources and services of these ministries do not provide support to Hizbullah,” the State Department urged.
The new health minister, Jamil Jabaq, is not a member of Hizbullah but is believed to be close to Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and was his personal physician at one point.
The health portfolio makes it difficult for international donors to avoid Hizbullah, which is under multiple U.S. sanctions.
A donor meeting in Paris last year pledged $11 billion in low-interest loans and aid for Lebanon, hoping to avert disaster amid political and economic instability and the influx of 1.5 million refugees from neighboring Syria.
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