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Lebanon's Hezbollah accuses U.S. of dividing Mideast

Xinhua, August 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accused on Friday the United States of not being serious in its war against the Islamic State (IS) group, and rather working on "drawing a new map of the region."

"America is using IS to divide the region," Nasrallah said in a televised speech marking the ninth anniversary of Israel's defeat against Hezbollah in the July 2006 war.

The Hezbollah chief said the United States "was not serious in its counter-terrorism efforts, but is aiming to draw a new map of the Middle East."

Nasrallah said that the United States was supporting terrorist groups in Syria to overthrow the government. "The real project is the division of Iraq, Syria, the region and even Saudi Arabia," he said.

The Shiite Hezbollah joined the battles against the insurgency in Syria to keep radical rebels away from Lebanese borders and to protect the Shiite community in Syria.

As for the local issues that are hindering the work of the government, Nasrallah urged rival factions to return to dialogue, and called on the Lebanese to stop talking about coexistence, but instead to start working towards achieving it.

Lebanon has been without a president since the six-year term of former President Michel Suleiman ended on May 25, 2014, and the parliament has failed many times to pick the new head of the state. Endit