Posted on 08/09/2012 2:09:35 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Lebanese MP says visit by Iran's Supreme National Security Council chief was public backing for Hezbollah and Assad.
A Lebanese MP has dubbed this weeks visit by Saeed Jalili, the head of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, to Beirut a deliberate message of support for Irans proxy Hezbollah.
In an interview with Kuwaits Al-Seyassah newspaper published on Wednesday, MP Fadi Karam of the Lebanese Forces party said Jalilis visit was primarily aimed at expressing support for Hezbollah, and also for Syrian President Bashar Assads regime.
The Lebanese Forces is the second-largest Christian party in the countrys parliament and is a member of the anti- Syrian March 14 bloc.
Karam said he believed there was a link between the timing of Jalilis visit to Beirut and a recent speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at the Shiite groups annual central iftar event, in which he criticized the March 14 alliance for pressuring Hezbollah to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese Army.
The March 14 alliance, which won the most seats in Lebanons 2009 general elections, is opposed to the Assad regime in Syria, and has pushed for Hezbollah to be disarmed, in part because of worries that Syrias chemical weapons stockpiles might fall into Hezbollahs hands.
In June, Lebanese political leaders resumed talks aimed at solving the issue of Hezbollahs weapons. However, last month Lebanese President Michel Sleiman postponed the talks after March 14 said it would boycott the session over Hezbollahs refusal to discuss its arms.
In Nasrallahs iftar speech, the Hezbollah leader said his party was interested in reaching a real defense strategy that protects Lebanon, and that Israel would not attack Lebanon because it was afraid of Hezbollah.
Nasrallah also said that Israel was violating Lebanese airspace on a daily basis and that Lebanon must liberate the Shaba Farms (Mount Dov).
Mount Dov is an area of the Golan Heights that Lebanon claims.
Referring to the iftar speech, Karam told Al-Seyassah that Jalilis visit to Beirut was intended to convey the message both domestically and abroad that there is no such thing as a Lebanese state...
[Jalilis] presence in Lebanon is to support the existence of the Hezbollah mini-state, which [Iran] considers an extension of its own interests in the region.
Lebanons Future Movement, the largest member of March 14, said on Tuesday that Nasrallah had dumped the only item on the National Dialogue agenda by refusing to give up Hezbollahs military arsenal.
Karams comments came after Lebanons former premier Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party and Druse community leader Walid Jumblatt slammed Jalilis visit to Beirut.
In a report Wednesday on Jalilis discussions with Nasrallah, the Arabic service of Irans state news agency, IRNA, said the Hezbollah leader and the Iranian official discussed the latest political developments in the region, and particularly in Lebanon and Syria.
The report, which did not mention any discussion of weapons, cited Hezbollahs media relations department and said that Jalili had met with Nasrallah following talks on Syria with Sleiman and other senior officials.
Jalili also participated in an event at the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, to celebrate International Quds [Jerusalem] Day, IRNA reported.
Quds Day, set for August 17, is an anti-Zionist event Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini first introduced in Iran in 1979.
Iran promotes the event in several countries in the Arab world.
According to IRNA, Jalili also celebrated Iranian Journalists Day in Beirut. Iran ranks fourth behind Eritrea, Syria and North Korea on the list of most-heavily censored countries in the world.
He is known for his strong ties with the Syrian regime and with President Bashar al-Assad personally.
It is believed that Mr Samaha is being questioned in connection with efforts to destabilise the country through bomb explosions and assassination attempts. The anti-Syrian Christian leader Samir Geagea, whose now-dissolved Lebanese Forces used to be one of the main fighting factions in civil war days, was the target of an apparent would-be assassination in April which failed.
Michel Samaha used to belong to the largely Maronite Christian Phalangist Party, of which Mr Geagea's Lebanese Forces were an offshoot. But both the Phalangist Party and the Lebanese Forces are now firmly in the anti-Syrian camp, while Mr Samaha has retained his friendship and ties with the Syrian regime.
Thanx!
Samaha is being questioned in connection with efforts to destabilise the country through bomb explosions and assassination attempts. The anti-Syrian Christian leader Samir Geagea, whose now-dissolved Lebanese Forces used to be one of the main fighting factions in civil war days, was the target of an apparent would-be assassination in April which failed. Michel Samaha used to belong to the largely Maronite Christian Phalangist Party, of which Mr Geagea's Lebanese Forces were an offshoot. But both the Phalangist Party and the Lebanese Forces are now firmly in the anti-Syrian camp, while Mr Samaha has retained his friendship and ties with the Syrian regime.What I like about Lebanese political history is how darned straightforward it is, so easy to understand, so simple to divide into just exactly two starkly different sides. ;')
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