Hizb Allah calls for Arab mediation
The head of Lebanon’s Hizb Allah group has called on Saudi Arabia and Egypt to intervene to resolve a crisis brewing in Lebanon.
In an interview published on Wednesday in the pan-Arab al-Hayat newspaper, Hassan Nasrallah appeared to back Saudi mediation to ease tensions between Lebanon and Syria, and called for efforts to resolve rifts among Lebanese leaders.
“Intervention is a must and there can’t be any Arab delay to do what is necessary,” Nasrallah said.
“The situation in Lebanon is bad and it has dangerous repercussions.”
Political crisis
Lebanon has been gripped by a political crisis since pro-Syrian Shia ministers boycotted the cabinet five weeks ago, paralysing a government dominated by anti-Syrian officials of a Sunni-led parliamentary majority coalition.
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“I don’t call on Saudi Arabia, Egypt or the Arab League to intervene between Lebanon and Syria only, but I also call them to intervene between the Lebanese” Hassan Nasrallah, head of Lebanon’s Hizb Allah |
Prince Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, has said that his country has presented Lebanon and Syria with a plan to defuse tensions between the two countries.
He told a British newspaper this week that the kingdom had made proposals for an agreement, but was waiting for a response from Beirut and Damascus.
War of words
The crisis escalated in recent days with a war of words between pro-Syrian Hizb Allah and Walid Jumblatt, an anti-Syrian Druze leader, that evoked memories of the 1975-1990 civil war.
Anti-Syrian politicians in Beirut have sharply criticised reported Arab efforts to mediate, with some even calling for the toppling of Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria.
“We support any Arab initiative and denounce any effort to spoil any Arab initiative,” Nasrallah said, warning that tensions among the Lebanese also gave reason for alarm.
“I don’t call on Saudi Arabia, Egypt or the Arab League to intervene between Lebanon and Syria only, but I also call them to intervene between the Lebanese,” he said.
“If the Lebanese are left to themselves, they would not be able to build their country with the current mentality.”
A UN inquiry implicated Syrian security officials and their Lebanese allies in the murder of Rafiq al-Hariri, a former prime minister of Lebanon. Damascus denied any role.