Mashnouq Says Coordinated Stance with Salam: It is Different from Bassil's
Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq stressed that his stance regarding Hizbullah at the Arab Interior Ministers Conference was coordinated with Prime Minister Tammam Salam and that it was different from the controversial stance of Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, al-Mustaqbal daily reported on Thursday.
“There is absolutely no resemblance between the two stances. I have not stood in the face of the Arab consensus and Lebanon's position was not the only one, but it followed the reservations expressed by Iraq and Algeria,” Mashnouq told the daily.
On Wednesday, the Interior Minister objected against labeling Hizbullah as a terrorist organization in the closing statement of the 33rd Arab Interior Ministers Conference held in Tunisia.
Emphasizing that the position was coordinated with Prime Minister Tammam Salam, he said: “Outside Lebanon, I cannot but defend all the Lebanese.”
The statement came hours after the Gulf Cooperation Council had blacklisted the party.
The gatherers at the conference had condemned the practices of Iran and Hizbullah, citing the party's "terrorist acts and incitement in Syria, Yemen and in Iraq," which were threatening Arab security.
For his part, former Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi expressed surprise at the stance of Mashnouq and said: “The accusation of the GCC against Hizbullah as terrorist organization came after irrefutable evidence,” he told al-Jazeera.
“Mashnouq's stances are unjustifiable and I urge the government to resign.”
In January and during an Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo, Bassil expressed Lebanon's rejection of an Arab League statement that condemned Hizbullah over alleged interference in the Arab States.
That position drew a lot of controversy and triggered a series of GCC reactions that started with Saudi Arabia halting a $4 billion in aid to the Lebanese army and military institutions.
It was followed by travel warnings to Lebanon. Other Gulf states followed suit urging their nationals not to travel to the country and those residing to leave.
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Source: Naharnet
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