Hizbullah Defines Off-Limit Areas for Lebanese Army
Hizbullah has asked the Lebanese army to stop flying over several areas of southern Lebanon, defined as off-limits by the party.
The report, carried by the German magazine Der Spiegal, said Hizbullah has sent a letter to the Lebanese army demanding "in a threatening tone" that the military stops overflights over areas considered off-limits by the group.
Der Spiegal said the letter has raised "outrage" among senior officers who called on army commander Jean Qakwaji to take a stance on the Hizbullah measure.
It said the off-limits areas included a massive part of central and southern Bekaa Valley all the way to the Syrian border as well as the area north of the Litani River almost all the way to the southern coast, in addition to Beirut”s southern suburbs.
The magazine said that Hizbullah fighters acted as though they were a state-within-a-state when they shot a Lebanese army helicopter recently, killing its Lebanese pilot.
It said Hizbullah continues to receive financial support from Iran as well as arms secretly smuggled via Syria despite U.N.”s persistent border monitoring.