MidEast

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Obama Calls on Lebanon To Rein In Hezbollah

by TheTower.org Staff |

The White House is emphasizing President Barack Obama’s concern over Hezbollah’s growing role in Syria, where the Iran-backed terror group is proving critical in an ongoing counter-offensive being waged by the Bashar al-Assad regime. The President conveyed those concerns to Lebanese President Michel Sleiman:

The two leaders agreed that all parties should respect Lebanon’s policy of disassociation from the conflict in Syria and avoid actions that will involve the Lebanese people in the conflict. President Obama stressed his concern about Hizballah’s active and growing role in Syria, fighting on behalf of the Assad regime, which is counter to the Lebanese government’s policies.

The conversation between the two leaders followed a Syrian army campaign that secured the strategic city of Qusayr, which for many months had been a key rebel stronghold near the Lebanese border. Hezbollah soldiers played a central role in taking the city. Reports indicate that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei explicitly instructed Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah to block supply routes used by rebel forces.

Whatever military success Hezbollah is enjoying in Syria, however, is rebounding dangerously into Lebanon:

The scale of the fighting — among the most intense ground battles in Syria’s war — has forced Lebanon to contend anew with a perennial problem. Hezbollah, stronger than the Lebanese Army, has the power to drag the country into war without a government decision, as in 2006, when it set off the war by capturing three Israeli soldiers.

Hezbollah’s critics also complained that the Lebanese Army’s seeming complicity in allowing a large Hezbollah force to cross the border could be viewed as Lebanon’s entering the war — a charge that Hezbollah and Mr. Assad’s supporters have leveled for the opposite reason, as Lebanese Sunnis flow into Syria to join the rebels.

Lebanese media outlets noted that Obama also called for new elections in Lebanon. The current composition of the Lebanese parliament is dominated by Hezbollah.

[Photo: AlJazeeraEnglish / YouTube]

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