Officials: 'No Room for Diplomacy,' Hizbullah Engaged in 'Open-Ended War'
Hizbullah officials have shrugged off accusations made by March 14 alliance officials against Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that his latest speech was tantamount to the announcement of war.
In remarks to the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper published on Sunday, the officials, who were not identified said: “He hasn't announced war. He is already fighting.”
“We are in an open-ended war that has no room for diplomacy,” the officials said.
“Maybe later we will be (using) the diplomacy of force,” they warned.
Nasrallah criticized on Friday accusations made by March 14 officials against some Shiites in Lebanon of seeking to eliminate other powers in Lebanon.
He warned: “Such a proclamation is a declaration of war.”
But several members of the alliance snapped back at him in remarks to local TV and radio stations on Saturday, saying Hizbullah's arms were part of a big plot against Lebanon.
They said Nasrallah was threatening to resort to his party's weapons in his dispute with the alliance.
The Hizbullah officials reiterated in their remarks to al-Rai that any attempt to form a fait accompli government would bring an end to the unity of Lebanon’s state institutions.
The ministers representing the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance will not hand over their portfolios to their successors if such a cabinet was formed, they said.
The warning came amid reports that President Michel Suleiman and Premier-designate Tammam Salam would form a de facto government to avoid having a vacuum during the presidential elections next year.
Suleiman's term ends in May 2014.
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