Fadlallah: Aleppo Battle Pivotal, Talks with Aoun Only Way for Presidential Solution

Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah on Sunday described the battle for the northern city of Aleppo as a “pivotal battle,” while reiterating the party's stance that dialogue with Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun is the “only way” to resolve the presidential void crisis in Lebanon.

“What the resistance (Hizbullah) is doing nowadays in Syria and its permanent readiness to defend Lebanon against the Israeli enemy are the things that have created a protection and stability shield for our entire country, including for those who oppose and criticize the resistance,” said Fadlallah in a speech in the southern town of Ainata.

“Had it not been for this shield, Lebanon would have been facing situations similar to those in the rest of the countries across the Arab world,” the lawmaker added, referring to countries that witnessed Arab Spring uprisings.

“Nowadays, we are offering sacrifices at the core of the battle in Syria, in order to protect the holy sites, the lives of our people, the resistance project and Lebanon,” Fadlallah said.

“Similarly to July 2006, when a lot of Arabs, Lebanese and foreign countries united against the resistance, a lot of forces are uniting today in the Aleppo battle, because it is a pivotal battle that will decide the fate of the war in Syria,” the MP explained.

Syrian rebels said Saturday they have broken a three-week government siege of second city Aleppo, turning the tables on Russian- and Hizbullah-backed regime forces who are now on the defensive.

The key northern province of Aleppo is a microcosm of Syria's chaotic multi-front war that has killed more than 280,000 people. Rebel and regime forces have fought to control the provincial capital since mid-2012, transforming the former economic powerhouse into a divided, bombed-out city.

Opposition fighters, Islamists and jihadists have waged fierce assaults since July 31 to end the siege by government forces of some 250,000 people in eastern Aleppo. On Saturday, rebels successfully broke the siege by opening a new route into the city from the southwest, opposition officials said.

Separately, Fadlallah said “Hizbullah is seeking to resolve the political crisis (in Lebanon) through speeding up the election of a new president.”

“Our presidential candidate is General Michel Aoun and they must negotiate with him as the only way to resolve the presidential crisis,” the MP added, noting that “at the same time, Hizbullah will keep seeking an electoral law based on proportional representation in order to ensure fair representation.”

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.