Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil stressed on Sunday that declaring Hizbullah as a terrorist group at the Arab League was “unacceptable”, pointing out that Lebanon has already expressed reservation on that labeling.
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The move was made Friday at a meeting of the group’s foreign ministers in Cairo.
Lashing out at Riyadh’s aggressive stance toward Hezbollah, Sheikh Naim Qassem, the deputy secretary general of the resistance movement, said in a Saturday speech that the Saudi regime is striving to affirm that Hezbollah is a terror group in “all the forums that allow it to make this move”.
Iran is Hezbollah’s main backer and is on opposite sides of the conflicts in Syria and Yemen from its regional rival Saudi Arabia.
The U.S. State Department said Kerry would first visit the Saudi city of Hafar al-Batin near the border with Iraq and Kuwait. It also sent a strategic message to Iran, and extremist Sunni groups like al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
“Saudi Arabia, which feels rancor towards Lebanon’s Hezbollah because of the movement’s support for the Syrian government, has now pressurized the other members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council… to force the Lebanese government to drive Hezbollah out of Lebanon’s political arena”, Baeedinejad deplored.
He said the resolution denounced “Iranian interference” in the “internal affairs” of Arab countries, including Sunni-ruled but majority Shiite Bahrain where it allegedly “supports terrorism ” . The Mediterranean country has weathered a string of militant attacks in recent years linked to the war in neighbouring Syria. “It was normal not to accept describing the party as a terrorist”, added the Minister.
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There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah. “Iraq and Lebanon abstained from voting, as well as Algeria, which are opposed to some points of the final decision”, Waheed Sayar said following the Council’s meeting.
