Rifi Affirms Yemeni Accusations on Hizbullah's Interferences in Arab States

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.

D.A.

G.K.