BEIRUT: Syria is in danger of being partitioned due to its 21 months of conflict, leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement Hassan Nasrallah said yesterday, while warning of a “long war” in the neighbouring country.
“We in Lebanon and in the region are living through one of the most important and dangerous phases, an atmosphere of strife,” Nasrallah, whose Shia militant group is a longstanding ally of the Damascus regime, said in a televised speech.
“In the whole region, from Yemen to Iraq to Syria, which is threatened more than ever by partition, even in Egypt and Libya and Saudi Arabia, there are schemes of division and partition. We must face these schemes,”
he said.
“The biggest danger facing our region and our nation at this stage, is a redivision of the region into mini-states along sectarian or ethnic lines.”
Nasrallah said that “parties inside Syria” and Western and Arab governments which have recognised the opposition were responsible for the flood of Syrian refugees into Lebanon, who now number more than 125,000, according to the United Nations.
“The people who bear responsibility for the continuation of their displacement are the same ones responsible for the bloodshed that is inhibiting Syrians from reaching a political dialogue or settlement,” he said.
“If a military solution continues, there will be a long war,” he warned, calling on the Lebanese government to take a stand.
“Lebanon cannot bear the social, humanitarian and political costs” of inaction. “There must be a serious political movement, which pushes for a political solution in Syria through political dialogue.” The United Nations on Wednesday said 60,000 people have been killed since the rebellion started from a revolt in March 2011. Nasrallah called on the government to dispatch an envoy to Turkey to open direct negotiations with the kidnappers of Lebanese hostages held in Syria. AFP
