Saad Hariri: Lebanon must End Siege on Arsal

Lebanon must step in to lift the “siege” imposed on the northeastern border town of Arsal by relatives and supporters of a Lebanese captive killed last week, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Wednesday. “The government is responsible for ending this blockade and tasking the Army with restoring the state’s prestige,” Hariri wrote on Twitter. He said the government should also work towards defusing tensions between rival towns in reference to the predominantly Sunni Arsal and the mostly Shiite nearby villages of Labweh and Bazzalieh. “The government must take speedy measures in this regard,” he said. “Similarly,” Hariri added, the government “must take a firm decision that would put an end to the [Lebanese] captives’ crisis and bring back the [hostages] safely.” Hariri said the killing of Lebanese hostage Ali Bazzal by Nusra Front militants on Friday “is a crime all Lebanese should condemn. Arsal’s siege and taking revenge on it serve the kidnappers,” he stressed. Nasr al-Hariri, Secretary General of the Syrian Coalition, condemns the execution of the Lebanese soldier Ali al Bazzal, describing the act as “a heinous unacceptable crime.” Al Bazzal was executed by the militant group Al Nusra Front after Hezbollah turned down a prisoner exchange deal with Al Nusra Front. “Kidnapping is a crime that contravenes the principles of the international law, and this act, if repeated, would further fuel the social and sectarian tensions in the region. To us, the blood of the Lebanese and the Syrians is one despite all Hezbollah’s efforts to drive a wedge between the two brotherly peoples,” Hariri said. Moreover, Hariri attributes full responsibility for this crime to Hezbollah’s blatant intervention in Syria, denouncing the part’s double-standards with respect to the exchange of prisoners. “While Hezbollah agreed to a prisoners exchange deal with Al Nusra Front a few days ago, whereby its captive soldiers were released, it left the captive Lebanese army troops out of the deal,” he said. Nasr al-Hariri, Secretary General of the Syrian Coalition, called earlier on the Lebanese government “to exercise caution and restraint regarding the abduction of the Lebanese Army soldiers. In light of the political upheaval sweeping the region, dealing with this issue is like trying to defuse the political and social bombs planted by Hezbollah’s and Iran’s reckless policies in the region.” Hariri also said that “Hezbollah bears much of the blame for the abduction of the Lebanese soldiers, as it has breached international laws by interfering in Syria’s internal affairs. For security and stability to be restored to Syria and the region, Hezbollah must withdraw its fighters from Syria. The Lebanese government has to put pressure on Hezbollah and admit that Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria will not whatsoever be part of the fight against terrorism.” Hariri stresses that “the sole beneficiary of these terrorist actions are the Assad regime and Hezbollah as they give credence to Assad’s allegations that the conflict in Syria is a mainly sectarian and ethnic one and cannot be considered a popular uprising against tyranny and injustice.” Hariri rules out that Hezbollah may comply with the demands of the kidnappers to pull out of Syria as it is merely a pawn moved around by Iran’s ayatollahs. On the other hand, the sole concern of the Assad regime and Hezbollah is clinging to power regardless of the lives of ordinary people.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)