Hariri to Damascus Allies: Stop Killing Syrians, Withdraw from Syria
Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri on Tuesday called on Hizbullah and other groups fighting alongside the Syrian regime to “stop killing the Syrian people” and return to their countries.
“March 15 is a glorious day in the history of the Syrian people and a symbol of rebellion against oppression, tyranny and terrorism,” said Hariri from Paris in a series of tweets marking the fifth anniversary of the Syrian anti-regime uprising.
He also paid tribute to “the Syrian brothers who are facing with bare hands the most vicious machines of killing, displacement and destruction.”
“History will not be merciful towards a regime that committed the most terrible crimes against its people and opened the doors of Syria for the remnants of terror and aberration,” Hariri said.
“All Syrians would say today: take your hands off Syria. Stop killing the Syrian people. Withdraw from Syria and return to your countries,” the former premier added.
His remarks come on the same day that Russia, a key ally of Damascus, started a surprise withdrawal of its forces and warplanes from war-torn Syria after its intervention in September last year helped the regime achieve major military gains.
In recent years, the regime has received instrumental military support on the ground from Iranian military advisers and elite forces in addition to militants from Hizbullah and several Iraqi, Pakistani and Afghan Shiite groups.
Hizbullah has deployed at least 6,000 militants to Syria since the start of the conflict and around 1,000 Hizbullah members have been reportedly killed there.
The party argues that its intervention, which is controversial in Lebanon, was necessary to protect the country from extremist groups and to prevent the fall of Syria into the hands of hostile forces.
Y.R.
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