Jumblat Slams Nasrallah, Considers Latest Speech as Tense
Naharnet/01.04.15
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat criticized on Wednesday Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s latest speech, describing it as “tense and biased.”“I noticed that the Islamic Republic of Iran didn’t comment (on the developments in Yemen) like Nasrallah did,” Jumblat said in comments published in As Safir newspaper. He considered that the Hizbullah chief was “biased and tense.”“I don’t understand why Hizbullah would go beyond Iran,” Jumblat wondered, stressing that he “will not use the word Persian anymore and replace it with the Islamic Iran as it might provoke the resistance.”
The Hizbullah chief unleashed a tirade against Saudi Arabia after the offensive over its intervention in Yemen, calling it “surprising and painful,” and suggesting Riyadh would suffer a “humiliating defeat” if it didn’t resolve the conflict through negotiations. A Saudi-led coalition began bombing Yemen last week, saying it was targeting the Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies. The March 14 alliance backed the Saudi campaign.
Jumblat told the daily that “Hizbullah’s objection to (Prime Minister Tammam) Salam’s speech at the Arab Summit is not justified,” describing it as “balanced,” wondering what is required from the premier to do other than that. Jumblat played down in remarks to An Nahar daily the impact of the developments on the government, saying: “Things are heading towards a settlement.”The Druze chief described Salam as a “wise man.” On Monday, Hizbullah Industry Minister Hussein al-Hajj Hassan slammed Salam’s stances at the Arab summit, pointing out that the PM’s remarks do not reflect the viewpoint of all Lebanese. “We will raise this issue in the next cabinet session,” the minister announced. Addressing the Arab League summit held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday night, Salam said Lebanon supported any decision to preserve the territorial integrity of Yemen, reiterating the country’s commitment to the dissociation policy and called for distancing Lebanon from the region’s conflicts. The two-day summit ended Sunday with a vow to defeat Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen and the formal unveiling of plans to form a joint Arab intervention force.
Aoun Describes Saudi Offensive against Yemen as ‘Illegal’
Naharnet//01.04.15/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun deemed as “illegal” the military offensive led by Saudi Arabia against Yemen’s Huthi rebels, reported As Safir newspaper on Wednesday. The charters of the United Nations and Arab League prohibit the foreign intervention of one country in the affairs of the other, he remarked during Tuesday’s weekly Change and Reform bloc meeting. The Saudi war on Yemen is therefore illegal according to international law, explained the MP. Furthermore, Aoun criticized the Arab “confusion” over Yemen, as well as the double standards adopted by some of these countries in addressing the developments in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen. He noted that based on his military experience, the airstrikes on Yemen will not yield results on the ground, citing Israel’s war against Hizbullah in 2006 as an example of this. Saudi Arabia launched last week airstrikes against Yemen’s Huthi rebels in an attempt to restore the country’s sovereignty.An Arab League summit over the weekend endorsed the operation, saying that they will continue until legitimacy is restored in the country.
