Hariri condemns Lebanese silence on Syria

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has accused the state of ignoring Hezbollah’s growing involvement in the conflict in neighbouring Syria, and warned that the resistance group threatens to lead the country into an abyss. "Where is the president on all of this? Where is the caretaker government and its prime minister? Where is Parliament and the parliamentary blocs? Where is the [Lebanese] Army command and all the security apparatuses?" he asked. "Is there a decision to hand over the state and its security and constitutional institutions to Hezbollah? Is there an acknowledgement by the state and its institutions that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is above the state and its institutions?" he added. According to reports, Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah fighters advanced into the Syrian town of Qusayr, near the Lebanese border, over the weekend. Hariri compared Hezbollah’s actions in Syria to Israeli assaults on Lebanon and blasted the lack of "national, constitutional, and moral responsibility toward the crime being committed by a major Lebanese faction through meddling in the internal Syrian war." "Hezbollah chose to clone the Israeli crimes committed against the people of Lebanon and apply them against the people in the Syrian town of Qusayr and the villages near Homs,” Hariri said. The former Lebanese PM urged national political groups to work towards drafting an elections law that allows parliamentary elections to take place on time, and brings an end to the political uncertainty in Lebanon.