Geagea and the Syrian Coalition Call on the Lebanese Government to Pressure Hezbollah to Withdraw from Syria

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted on Monday that the attack launched by gunmen on the eastern region of Brital demonstrates the need for the government to take the necessary action to guarantee the safety of Lebanese territories. He told the Central News Agency: “The government should take a binding decision to force Hezbollah to withdraw from Syria.” “It should then provide the Lebanese army with the necessary support to completely control the Lebanese-Syrian border in accordance to United Nations Security Council resolution 1701,” he suggested. Hezbollah’s withdrawal from Syria will also ensure the release of soldiers and policemen abducted by extremists in August from the northeastern border town of Arsal. “The government’s avoidance of addressing the issue of Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria demonstrates that it is shying away from its responsibility as the party’s meddling in the neighboring country will lead all the Lebanese, especially the Shiites, towards more crises, which we can do without,” Geagea remarked. Nora al-Ameer, vice president of the Syrian Coalition, said earlier that “Hezbollah’s chief Nasrallah will not succeed in exonerating his militias from the blood of innocent civilians. It has become clear that Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria is behind the spillover of terrorism to Lebanon, even though we have repeatedly called on the Lebanese government to put pressure on Hezbollah to withdraw its criminal militias from Syria. Civilians are now paying the price of the inaction towards the horrific massacres committed by sectarian militias led by Bashar al-Assad.” Al Ameer calls on the Lebanese army to “address the root of the problem, which is Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria. (Source: Syrian Coalition)