Hariri Slams Hizbullah 'Documented Killing' in Arab Countries, Vows Peaceful Confrontation
Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri stressed Thursday that Hizbullah's terror accusations against Saudi Arabia are baseless while noting that the party's “practices, crimes and killing of others” in some Arab countries are “documented” and corroborated.
“There are efforts to establish a truce (in Syria) and we hope it will last, but the final solution will eventually oust Bashar Assad and Hizbullah's members and militants will have to return to Lebanon,” said Hariri during a Center House meeting with a delegation representing Lebanon's Arab tribes.
“What would the party say to the families and relatives of thousands of militants left dead, wounded or disabled by the fighting alongside Assad's dictatorial regime? How would it justify what happened?” the ex-PM asked.
Hizbullah has deployed at least 6,000 militants to fight alongside Assad's forces against Islamist-led rebels and jihadists and around 1,000 Hizbullah members have been killed in Syria since the start of the conflict. The party argues that its intervention was necessary to protect Lebanon from extremist groups and to prevent the fall of Syria into the hands of hostile forces.
“We frequently hear accusations that the kingdom is exporting terror. We want a single evidence or recording that confirms their baseless accusations,” Hariri added, referring to recent speeches by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who has accused Riyadh of backing terrorist groups in Yemen, Iraq and Syria.
“Meanwhile, Hizbullah's practices, crimes and killing of others are documented and substantiated by countless pieces of evidence, from Syria to Iraq and from Bahrain to Kuwait, Yemen and other countries,” the former premier charged.
“These practices are being committed in public and the evidence is in everyone's reach. We reject these practices that Lebanon cannot withstand,” Hariri told the delegation.
Mustaqbal's leader pledged to cling to “the project aimed at rescuing Lebanon” and to raise the voice high against “Hizbullah's practices and violations at home and abroad.”
“We are observing what's happening in Iraq and Syria and we must exert all efforts possible to insulate Lebanon from what's happening in these two nearby countries,” Hariri added.
“The same as we managed to kick out the Syrian army from Lebanon without any violence, we are capable through our unity to face all challenges and threats and return the project of the state to the right track,” he went on to say.
His remarks come a day after Yemen's embattled government accused Hizbullah of sending fighters to support Iran-backed Huthi rebels controlling parts of the war-ravaged country including the capital.
The government has evidence of "Hizbillah's involvement in the Huthi war against the Yemeni people," its spokesman Rajih Badi said. 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.
Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab coalition battling the Huthis and their allies since last March in support of the government.
Riyadh said last week it had halted a $3 billion military funding program for Lebanon in response to "hostile" positions linked to Hizbullah. 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.
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