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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| No place for jihadis on Arsal's outskirts: Nasrallah |
| 2015-05-25 |
| [EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Hezbollah will not allow a single jihadi to remain on the outskirts of Leb's northeastern border town of Arsal, party chief Hasan Nasrallah said Sunday, vowing to push on with the Qalamoun offensive until the frontier with Syria is secure. Ignoring calls by his political rivals to steer clear of the volatile village and its outskirts, where large numbers of Nusra and ISIS fighters have taken foothold, Nasrallah said that all sects in Leb remained in danger as long as the jihadis had access to the country. "We will not accept remnants of any terrorist or jihadi on the outskirts of Arsal or any outskirts in the Bekaa Valley," Nasrallah said in a televised speech marking the 15th anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from south Leb. Nasrallah issued a similar message one week ago, promising to liberate Arsal's outskirts from the The call was immediately met with fury by rival politicians who accused Hezbollah of seeking to dominate the area and drag the Lebanese army into conflict. Some warned that any move by Hezbollah against groups around Arsal, which is predominately Sunni, would inflame sectarian tensions. But Nasrallah dismissed those accusations, saying he was simply calling on the Army to "defend your land, people and illusory sovereignty, and to face your responsibilities, not run away from them. He recalled the period in 2013 and 2014 when boom-mobiles were rigged in Syria's Qalamoun region and passed through Arsal to target Shiite neighborhoods across Leb, saying even then Hezbollah was against the mistreatment of Arsal's residents. |
| Posted by:Fred |