 Hizbullah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem said Sunday "MP Walid Jumblatt is part of an international conspiracy that aims to put Lebanon under American tutelage, which is trying to hamper the ability to face Israel."
| "It's a conspiracy, I tells yez! Hatched in a smoke-filled room, in the dead o' night, by dark men of sinister visage! I seen it! I seen it with me own eyes!" |
In an interview with Syrian newspaper Tishreen, Qassem said that the issue of the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 "was not over yet but is staggering due to the government's stagnation."
| "We are, of course, obstructing as hard as we can..." |
"Jumblatt's positions do not fall in line with the building of a stable country," he said.
| "Not a stable country like Syria, anyway. Or Iran. Or one o' those other utopias." |
The Hizbullah official added that Jumblatt's escalating statements "highlighted his anger at the progress of the situation."
| "He can't get angry. Only we can get angry. We make our living being angry. What if he corners the market on anger? What'd happen to us? Our families would starve!" |
"However, such statements do not affect our presence in the Cabinet or our relations with the Future Movement. We are comfortable about the progress achieved and we hope that Jumblatt will return to this national path, which serves Lebanon's interests."
| "If not, his car's gonna explode and we'll work with somebody else." |
Speaking on the issue of the presidency, Qassem said that Hizbullah would not sign the petition which the March 14 MPs are distributing that calls for the removal of President Emile Lahoud.
| "We're pretty fond of Emile. We find him... tame." |
Qassem said that the Shiite party won't sign the petition because it "is based on a political and not a legal point of view, which Hizbullah does not share." As for the March 14 Forces' claims that allying with Hizbullah is tantamount to allying with Syria and Iran, he said: "We are proud of our relations with Iran and Syria because they have always supported Lebanon and the resistance, asking nothing in return."
| "So we can take that as a 'yes'?" |
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