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Al Ain News
Sunday 9/13/2020 6:40 PM Abu Dhabi time
The announcement by the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Deputy Gebran Bassil, that the Hezbollah militia is considering returning from Syria, opened the door wide to questions related to international pressures that led to their withdrawal from the Lebanese interior.
A few days ago, the wave of international escalation against the Lebanese Hezbollah reached its climax, especially with the US sanctions that hit the militia allies.
On Tuesday, Washington imposed sanctions on former Lebanese Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, a deputy from the Amal Movement headed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and former Minister of Works and Transportation Yusef Fenianos, affiliated with the Marada movement, for their participation in the ” corruption “and his support for Hezbollah.
The “Bassil Declaration” reflected the anxiety the party was experiencing as a result of international pressure, the most important being the United States, which was represented in the recent sanctions package, then the French, who pressed for the formation of a new government, and internal movements, the most important of which is that of the Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rai who raised the record of the “neutrality of Lebanon” from the region. .
Opposition political sources told the Hezbollah militia in Al-Ain Al-Akhbar that the party “is concerned about the accumulation of internal and external pressure on it,” and stressed that it “is forced to submit to him, or to the less to promote his return to Lebanon in an attempt to reassure the Lebanese and the international community of Solo has returned to the inner square. ”
Gebran Bassil, during a press conference on Sunday, said: “Hezbollah began to think about returning from Syria and securing its conditions, and we as Lebanese must accept and support such a decision.”
In the past, reports have spoken of Hezbollah withdrawing hundreds of its militants from Syria into Lebanon. However, information from the Syrian opposition spoke to Al-Ain News about its repositioning within Syria and greatly reducing the area of its spread, especially on the traditional fronts that were spreading. In the south, Aleppo, Homs and around Damascus.
Bassil announced that the initiative that his movement presented to the Lebanese presidents Michel Aoun and the French Emmanuel Macron included in its political aspect the issue of the neutralization of Lebanon for discussion at the dialogue table.
Sources told Al-Ain Al-Akhbar that what Bassil said “implies a reality in terms of French pressure on the ally of the most prominent Christian party (the Free Patriotic Movement) to adhere to the Lebanese agenda” and, in Consequently, “abandon the Iranian adventures in the region.”
The sources added: “Aoun and Bassil can no longer cover Hezbollah after the escalation of international pressure, and can no longer support the party at the expense of Patriarch Al-Ra’i’s position due to internal accounts related to the Christian street. , which is considered an obstacle to the path of the state’s rebirth. ”
Al-Rahi reiterated on Sunday that “active neutrality is necessary in this Arab and eastern environment so that Lebanon is a place of meeting and dialogue for all.”
According to sources, Cristiana Street, opposed to the alliance and loyal to it, agreed to this vision after the sponsor presented the file.
And he said: “The party loyal to the Aounist movement now sees that the party, its weapons archive and its participation in the region’s crises lead to the failure of the pact because it prevents international aid from Lebanon and is besieging the pact economically and under conditions of lifetime”.
Regarding the party that opposes the pact, the sources add: “It has been convinced that the lack of adherence to neutrality threatens the Lebanese entity and deepens its isolation, and this matter must be addressed by distancing itself from the crises and records of the region”.
In fact, Basil’s criticism of the visit to Lebanon by the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian “Hamas” movement, Ismail Haniyeh, was clear. It expresses this trend, which is a rare criticism of Hezbollah’s allies and options.
Bassil noted that Lebanon “during this period cannot bear things like what happened and was said,” referring to the threats Haniyeh made from Lebanon to Israel.
He added that “Haniyeh’s statements harm Lebanon and do not serve the Palestinian cause or the return of our refugee brothers to their land,” considering that the statements of the head of Hamas’ political office “increase the risks to sovereignty and freedom. unity of Lebanon, and we will not accept that anyone believes any reality that threatens it. ”
Christian sources opposing Hezbollah paused on the recent US sanctions package on Lebanon, which hit two party allies, namely the “Amal Movement” headed by Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, by including to his political adviser on the sanctions list, and to former minister Youssef Fenianos, who belongs to the “Marada” movement led by former representative Suleiman. Franjieh.
And he continued, in his speech: “Basilio has become tense with the sanctions package, and the party does not want to lose additional allies and pay them the price of dealing with them, so the party began to respond to distancing, as Bassil said. , to keep the specter of sanctions away from their allies. ”
On Tuesday, the US Treasury said Tuesday that Khalil, who took over the Finance Ministry between 2014 and 2020, “helped transfer funds from ministries to institutions linked to Hezbollah to circumvent sanctions imposed on the party,” as well as “used his influence to obtain exceptions so that a person associated with Hezbollah would not pay Taxes on imported electronic products.
