2010-05-13 00:00:00 : Lebanon > Politics

Sources quoting Al-Hariri:I do not disagree with Hezbollah about resistance

On May 11, the independent leftist As-Safir daily carried the following report: “…The statements that PM [Sa’ad Al-Hariri] made during his European visits provoked critical American reactions, especially after his famous statement to the Italian “La Stampa” newspaper where he denied stories of Scud missiles being transferred through Syria to Hezbollah saying that “these accusations remind us of (American) allegations concerning the presence of weapons of mass destruction against (late Iraki President) Saddam Hussein. [These weapons] were never found and they never existed.” [Meanwhile] Lebanese personalities who had recently met with the Prime Minister quoted him as saying that he supports the Lebanese Resistance owning the tools it needs to defend Lebanon’s borders and sovereignty including Scud missiles to confront any Israeli attempt to attack Lebanon. “Al-Hariri said: “I do not disagree with Hezbollah about the headline of resistance at all; I disagree with them on some domestic issues.” When he was told that the Americans blamed him and were upset by his statements regarding Scud rockets, he answered: “I do not care about what would make anyone on the outside happy or sad. It is the interests of my country that I care about first and foremost.” In this regard, As-Safir’s correspondent in Washington, Joe Maacaron, quoted well informed sources in the American Administration in saying PM Al-Hariri will visit Washington “shortly and he will meet with the American President Barrack Obama and he might as well meet with the Foreign Minister Hillary Clinton and the Defense Minister Robert Gates, in addition to Congress officials.” “[The sources] set the last week on this month as a potential time for the visit, whose exact timing depends on a statement soon to be issued by the White House, which is following up on details of the visit that is still in the preparatory phases. The sources mentioned that the Lebanese PM has expressed a desire to visit Washington since he arrived to the governmental Serail in November 2009, and that many close to him have advised him to wait until President Obama’s external politics regarding the Middle East become clearer. [The sources] indicated that he has been advised: “Obama’s presidency will not [be able to] overcome the battle of the health reform and we must wait until Washington re-draws its internal map and until it takes back the initiative in the region.” “The American sources told As-Safir that despite all that, “Al-Hariri kept asking this question to his visitors, and that springtime was the perfect time, five months after the visit of President Michel Suleiman last December and with the near ending of Lebanon’s presidency of the international Security Council. It also comes after the regional and European tours that the “new Al-Hariri” had made in order to introduce himself to the international stage...” - As-Safir, Lebanon

Click here for source

Back