Hariri praises Hizbullah”s “will to contain” tension, lashes out at Syrian “terror”
Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri lashed out at Syria on Friday, accusing it of exporting "terror" to neighboring countries. "Terror is strictly made by the Syrian regime," Hariri told Russia Today television channel.
Hariri also said Hizbullah has the "will to contain" repercussions of the May clashes in Beirut and rejected expanding the list of participants in the national dialogue meetings.
"I challenge Syria to accept an international investigation committee to expose who spreads terror in Iraq and Lebanon and who has camps for training terrorists," he said.
"If they don”t want an international investigation committee, I challenge them to accept an Arab committee," Hariri said.
Commenting on the recent US raid on a village in Syria, Hariri said: "Let them lodge a complaint with the United Nations Security Council. Why didn”t they do that?"
Syria protested to the UN Security Council on Tuesday over what it called a "flagrant act of aggression," and asked the world body to "prevent any repetition of this grave violation."
US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said the target of the raid was a top Al-Qaeda figure who operated a network smuggling fighters into Iraq. Syria has said the raid killed only eight civilians and no militants, and has challenged the US to prove that it targeted an extremist.
"Israel had earlier raided a Syrian nuclear facility, which they [the Syrians] say is not such. Why didn”t they lodge a complaint with the UN Security Council?" Hariri said. Syria also complained to the UN over that attack, and has allowed international inspections of the site.
"Let the world know what has happened," Hariri said.
Hariri said his recent meeting with Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was a "very good meeting marked by frankness and a revision of what happened during the past three years and a half."
The talks were also marked by "different viewpoints and perspectives," he said.
"There is a will and attempt by Hizbullah and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to contain recent tensions. We also want to contain recent tensions," he added.
"I believe that what happened on May 7 was a lesson from which the opposition realized that nothing changes. May 7 signaled collapse of Lebanon”s principles, dialogue … and the right to be different," Hariri said in reference to clashes between opposition fighters and pro-government gunmen earlier this year. "Repercussions of that day persist and will persist in the future," Hariri added.
Asked if the Future Movement would go into an alliance with Hizbullah in the upcoming 2009 parliamentary elections, Hariri said: "Of course not."
The forthcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for the spring of 2009, would "reflect the people”s response to what has happened," he added.
He said the March 14 alliance would go into the competition with unified tickets to defend its concept of "Lebanon first."
Asked about demands to expand the number of participants in the national dialogue, Hariri said: "I”m against such a step."