GCC: Hizbullah's Continued Intervention in Syria Hinders Geneva Conference
Gulf Cooperation Council's foreign ministers warned late Saturday that Hizbullah's continued involvement in the Syrian war was threatening the Geneva peace conference.
Following a consultative meeting they held in Manama, the ministers condemned in a statement “the continued involvement of Hizbullah's militias” in Syria.
They called for “putting an end to such an intervention which will be a hindrance to the efforts exerted to hold the Geneva 2 conference.”
The statement said the ministers “expressed deep concern over the repercussions of the Syrian crisis on the situation in Lebanon politically and security wise.”
They reiterated their call on the Lebanese government to remain committed to the policy of dissociation and prevent any Lebanese party from getting involved in the neighboring country's war.
The Syrian military has gained momentum after seizing the town of Qusayr earlier this month with the help of Hizbullah fighters, capturing villages on the roads linking the capital to the border area with Lebanon.
The rebels have also claimed some victories, marking a successful end to a two-week battle in the south Friday by capturing an army checkpoint in the city of Daraa, the provincial capital of the region that carries the same name.
The GCC will hold a meeting in Riyadh next week to agree the mechanisms for imposing sanctions on Hizbullah members, its head Abdullatif al-Zayani has said.
The monarchies of the GCC decided on June 10 to impose sanctions on members Hizbullah targeting their residency permits and their financial and business activities in reprisal for the group's armed intervention in Syria.
Thursday's meeting, in which deputy interior ministers from GCC member states will take part, would "develop the appropriate mechanisms for applying" the June 10 decision, al-Zayani said in comments quoted by official Saudi news agency SPA.
Source: Agence France Presse, Naharnet
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