Hezbollah's Nasrallah: "Saudi Arabia 'declared war' on Lebanon"

Hezbollah chief: Saudi Arabia 'declared war' on Lebanon, PM Hariri 'forced to resign & detained'

RT,

10 November, 2017

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah says Saudi Arabia has declared war on Lebanon, adding that the “detention” and “house arrest” of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri an “unprecedented Saudi intervention” in Lebanon’s internal affairs.

The reports of the assassination plot were fabricated by the Saudis, Nasrallah said, while the PM’s resignation speech was also written by them, he claimed in a televised speech.

The Hezbollah leader also stated that the Lebanese government is still legitimate and urged all the parties to cooperate with it.Nasrallah claimed that Hariri was prevented by the Saudis from returning to Lebanon, while the whole situation around resignation of the PM was an “unprecedented Saudi intervention” in Lebanon’s internal affairs.

“Hariri is a prisoner in Saudi Arabia, and cannot return to his own country. Saudi Arabia is seeking to impose its will on the Lebanese government. It is trying to sow the seeds of discord among various political factions here and pit them against each other,” the Hezbollah leader said, as quoted by Press TV.

Saudi Arabia 'holding' Lebanon PM Hariri, Beirut to seek foreign pressure on Riyadh – official

Meanwhile, the US State Department has released a statement "cautioning against any party, within or outside Lebanon, using Lebanon as a venue for proxy conflicts." Washington urges all parties "to respect the integrity and independence of Lebanon’s legitimate national institutions," including the government and the army, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stated Friday, adding: "In this regard, we respect Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri as a strong partner of the United States."

The Saudi plot also involved inciting Israel to strike Lebanon, Nasrallah claimed. However, he believes that a new Israeli war with Lebanon is unlikely, as the Israelis know how high its cost would be. He also warned Tel Aviv against trying to exploit the unfolding crisis in Lebanon for its own ends.The most recent armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted in 2006 and effectively resulted in a stalemate. Both sides, however, claimed victory.

The alleged Saudi actions against Lebanon were prompted by the kingdom’s anger at the failure of its politics in the country, as well as in its neighbor, Syria, Nasrallah stated. Riyadh, in fact, failed across all arenas in the region and will fail again with its new endeavor in Lebanon, the Hezbollah leader dded.

READ MORE: Saudi Arabia v Iran: What’s behind bitter feud between Middle Eastern powers?

The recent remarks made by the top Saudi officials equate to a “declaration of war” against Lebanon and Hezbollah, Nasrallah said. Earlier this week, the Saudi minister of state for Gulf affairs, Thamer al-Sabhan, said that the Lebanese administration would be “dealt with as a government declaring war on Saudi Arabia,” and blamed Hariri’s administration for its inaction towards Hezbollah over the past year. “The Lebanese must all know these risks and work to fix matters before they reach the point of no return,” Sabhan told Al Arabiya.

From Israel's Haaretz

Hezbollah's Nasrallah: Saudi Arabia Inciting Israel to Strike Lebanon

Hezbollah leader says Saudi Arabia has declared war on Lebanon and is detaining PM Hariri, warns Israel against 'any attempt to exploit the situation'

Haaretz,

10 November, 2017

Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that Saudi Arabia had declared war on Lebanon and the Iran-backed group, accusing Riyadh of detaining Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and forcing him to resign.

Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia's detention of Hariri was an insult to all Lebanese and he must return to Lebanon.

Nasrallah also said Riyadh is inciting Israel to strike Lebanon, and his militant group is watching carefully for any Israeli attempts to use the crisis to begin hostilities against Lebanon. He said Israel is cautious, however, and unlikely to make such a move.

In a televised speech, Nasrallah said "Let us say things as they are: the man is detained in Saudi Arabia and and forbidden until this moment from returning to Lebanon." Nasrallah called Hariri's resignation last Saturday an "unprecedented Saudi intervention" in Lebanese politics. 

"It is clear that Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials have declared war on Lebanon and on Hezbollah in Lebanon," he said.

He said Lebanon's government was still legitimate and had not resigned, saying Hariri's "forced" resignation is unconstitutional because it was done "under хuress."

"Saudi will fail in Lebanon as it has failed on all fronts," Nasrallah said. 

Nasrallah is calming an apparently jittery population following Saudi Arabia's escalation against Hezbollah's patron Iran. Hariri's resignation last week was seen as a move by Riyadh to take its rivalry with Iran to the tiny Lebanon.

Some fear the escalation will pave the way for Israel to strike against Hezbollah, against which Israel has fought a number of wars. He said Israel should not think "we are troubled. No, absolutely not."

Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia was encouraging Israel to attack Lebanon. While an Israeli attack could not be ruled out entirely, he said, it was unlikely partly because Israel knew it would pay a very high price. "I warn them against any miscalculation or any step to exploit the situation," he said. 

"Today we are more confident and feeling stronger in the face of any threat," said Nasrallah.

Western countries have looked on with alarm at the rising regional tension. 

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned other countries and groups against using Lebanon as vehicle for a larger proxy fight in the Middle East, saying Washington strongly backed Lebanon's independence and respected Hariri as a strong partner of the United States, referring to him as prime minister. 

"There is no legitimate place or role in Lebanon for any foreign forces, militias or armed elements other than the legitimate security forces of the Lebanese state," Tillerson said in a statement released by the U.S. State Department. 

The French foreign ministry said it wanted Hariri to be fully able to play what it called his essential role in Lebanon. 

Hariri has made no public remarks since announcing his resignation in a speech televised from Saudi Arabia, saying he feared assassination and accusing Iran and Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world. 

Two top Lebanese government officials, a senior politician close to Hariri and a fourth source told Reuters on Thursday that the Lebanese authorities believe Hariri is being held in Saudi Arabia. 

Riyadh has advised Saudi citizens not to travel to Lebanon, or if already there to leave as soon as possible. Other Gulf states have also issued travel warnings. Those steps have raised concern that Riyadh could take measures against the tiny Arab state, which hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees. 

Editorial comment from Haaretz

Saudi Arabia Is Opening a New Front Against Iran, and Wants Israel to Do Its Dirty Work

The Sunni kingdom is trying to shift the battlefield from Syria to Lebanon. This may lead to a chain reaction

Syria, Yemen and Now Lebanon: Will the Saudis' Latest Gamble Prove Another Reckless Failure?

The West's infatuation with the kingdom's natural resources has seemingly blinded it to its immense regional failures

From Lebanon’s Daily Star – behind a paywall.

Lebanon stands UNITED

Govt stays till PM returns: Nasrallah

Hezbollah considers Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Cabinet as still functioning normally, the party’s Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said Friday, adding that he considers the premier’s resignation unconstitutional.

From al-Jazeera

Nasrallah says Saad Hariri resignation 'illegal'

The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah has declared that the country's prime minister is currently detained in Saudi Arabia and that his "forced" resignation is unconstitutional because it was done "under pressure".

Speaking in Beirut on Friday, Hassan Nasrallah said he was sure that Saad Hariri was forced to resign as part of what he called Saudi Arabia's policy of stoking sectarian tensions in Lebanon.

Hariri, who announced his resignation last week in a televised address from Riyadh, has yet to return to Lebanon.

Nasrallah said Hariri is being prevented by Saudi officials from returning to Lebanon, which is why "we deem the resignation of Hariri illegal and invalid".

"All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Saudi Arabia called the prime minister on urgent matter without his aide or advisers, and was forced to tender his resignation, and to read the resignation statement written by them," Nasrallah said, as he accused Riyadh of "blunt, unprecedented interference".

"We declare that the prime minister of Lebanon has not resigned," he said. "Saad Hariri is our political opponent, but he is also our prime minister." 

Nasrallah also said "Lebanon had enjoyed unprecedented stability over the past year", and appealed for unity throughout the country. 

He said US President Donald Trump must have known of the plans to force Hariri's resignation. 

Hariri is part of a unity government that also includes rival political factions such as those supported by Hezbollah.  

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said that there is widespead belief that Hariri is being held against his will, adding that even his own party members have called for his return to Lebanon.

"So a lot of questions of his whereabouts and the well-being of the prime minister, and a lot of fear that the situation could explode," she said.    

"No to proxy conflicts'  

In a statement on Friday issued following Nasrallah's televised address, Rex Tillerson, US secretary of state, cautioned against using Lebanon "as a venue for proxy conflicts".

He urged "all parties both within Lebanon and outside to respect the integrity and independence of Lebanon's legitimate national institutions".

"The United States supports the stability of Lebanon and is opposed to any actions that could threaten that stability."  

Earlier, Heather Nauert, state department spokesperson, said a US diplomat met Saad Hariri in Riyadh, but refused to comment on where the meeting took place or to elaborate on Hariri's status.

"[The talks] were sensitive, private, diplomatic conversations," Nauert said on Thursday.

"We have seen him. In terms of the conditions of him being held or the conversations between Saudi Arabia and Prime Minister Hariri, I would have to refer you to the government of Saudi Arabia and also to Mr Hariri's office."

Lebanese fear escalation of Iran-Saudi tensions

Nauert said Hariri's resignation was an "internal matter that we couldn't comment on".

Separately, Russia's ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, threatened on Thursday to refer Hariri's case to the UN Security Council if the "ambiguity" continues.

"The issue of Hariri's return to the country concerns the sovereign rights of Lebanon," Zasypkin said in an interview with Lebanese channel LBC.

Lebanese officials have said Hariri is likely to be under either house arrest or in temporary detention in Riyadh.

His resignation on November 4 came on the same day that dozens of Saudi princes, senior ministers, businessmen were arrested in a purge carried out by a new anti-corruption committee led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Also on Friday, France's foreign ministry said it wanted Hariri to be free of his movements and fully able to play an essential role in his country.

"As the minister said, we wish that Saad al-Hariri has all his freedom of movement and be fully able to play the essential role that is his in Lebanon," French deputy foreign ministry spokesman Alexandre Georgini said, refering to an earlier statement by Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Georgini said France's ambassador to Saudi Arabia had also visited Hariri at his residence

Is Lebanon on the verge of another conflict?

From Saudi-apologist al-Arabiya

Saudi FM Jubeir: We would like sanctions against Iran for supporting terror

Saudi Arabia would like to see sanctions on Iran for its support of terrorism and for violating the ballistic missile resolutions of the United Nations, foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir has said.

In an interview to CNBC, Jubeir said that when you combine those three, fixing the nuclear agreement and holding Iran accountable for its support of terrorism and for its ballistic missile program, then I think we have an effective way of dealing with Iran.

Saudi anti-corruption drive, a decisive storm to restore hope

Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, with an ambitious program, has started an “internal operation decisive storm” against corruption and extremism with an “operation to restore hope” among Saudi young people who pin high hopes on his as a young king to lead the country.

Mohammad bin Salman plans to modernise the country amid the young Saudi generation viewing him as a “reformer and hardliner”. Some Saudi youngsters, mainly females, even consider him as the J.F. Kennedy of Arabia for his efforts to diversify the economy and turn Saudi Arabia into an influential country in the Middle East.

“Analysis”

ANALYSIS: Why Saad Hariri faced threat from both Iran and Hezbollah

While considering the manner in which Saad Hariri had to resign as Lebanon’s prime minister, it has to be realized that Hezbollah controls around 25 percent of that country’s territory and that its militia has grown more powerful than the Lebanese army.

The level of interference by both Hezbollah and Syria in Lebanese politics at the behest of the Iranian regime, particularly Hezbollah’s proven record of assassinating those speaking out against it or its Syrian and Iranian patrons, must have been a major cause behind Saad Hariri’s decision to leave the country before announcing his resignation.