Hezbollah supports devising Lebanese anti-terrorism strategy

Lebanon's Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah voiced support to "devise a national anti-terror strategy," affirming that dialogue will continue between Hezbollah and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's al-Mustaqbal movement.

In a televised speech commemorating Hezbollah's "martyr leaders," Sheikh Ragheb Harb, Sayyed Abbas al-Moussawi and Imad Mughniyeh, Nasrallah revealed for the first time that his party is fighting the jihadist Islamic State group in Iraq.

He said "we may not have spoken about Iraq before, but we have a limited presence because of the sensitive phase that Iraq is going through."

Hezbollah is already to fight in Syria, alongside President Bashar Assad's forces.

Nasrallah said "I tell those who are asking us to withdraw from Syria, let us go together to Syria and Iraq and to any place that contains a threat to the future of our nation, because that is the right way to defend Lebanon," in a direct answer to Hariri's call on Nasrallah to withdraw his forces from Syria.

However, Nasrallah voiced support for Hariri's call to "devise a national anti-terror strategy."

He stressed "we agree on the enemy that is terrorism. Daesh (IS) and al-Nusra Front are present on the other side of the Eastern Mountain Range.

Circumstances have limited or prevented the confrontations and the state must take a decisive stance on how to deal with this threat."

Hezbollah's leader noted that "we will face another challenge when the snow melts," stressing that these groups "can be easily defeated," adding that victory requires a "national decision and will."

Addressing Hariri, Nasrallah said "whether the Lebanese like it or not, Lebanon has always been affected by what happens in the region. Anything that happens in it has an impact on Lebano."

As for the issue of the presidential crisis, Nasrallah called for "renewing the domestic efforts," noting that "the relevant parties in this regard are well-known."

Lebanon has been without a president since May 25 when the tenure of former President Michel Suleiman ended and the parliament failing for 18 consecutive times in convening to elect a new president because of lack of the constitutionally required quorum.

As for the conflict in Syria, Nasrallah said "the game has ended in Syria and the insistence on fighting has become a form of intransigence."

He also called for coordination between the Lebanese and Syrian armies in the border region, calling on the Lebanese government to coordinate with Damascus over the issues of refugees and security. Endit