Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, on Thursday sternly cautioned against concerted bids, namely by the US, to sow seeds of sectarian strife in the jolted Mideast region, through new-fangled division schemes.
In a speech aired on Al Manar TV channel, Hassan Nasrallah renewed Hezbollah's principal and unswerving refusal of any form of division, calling to preserve unity in threatened countries, albeit serious challenges, difficulties, nay, just demands.
Nasrallah was speaking today during the commemoration of the 40th day of Imam Hussein's martyrdom.
The mourning rituals were performed in Ras-el-Ain in Baalbeck, the very place where the captives of Imam Hussein's convoy walked back in 61 Hegira.
Nasrallah said commemorating the 40th day of Imam Hussein's martyrdom was highly symbolic in terms of keeping the history of downtrodden Ahl-el-Beit revived.
He said marking this commemoration was mostly salient nowadays, amid rabid massacres, suicide attacks, and systematic attempts to foment strife throughout the Islamic world.
Nasrallah raked up fresh bombings of churches and Christians' slaughters, by those seeking to impose their ideas through crimes, in reference to hardliners and Takfirists.
He avowed that this shall never change the convictions of the loyals to Imam Hussein, maintaining that Islam has always respected the rituals and practices of Christians throughout history.
Moreover, he pointed out that the division schemes were menacing the entire Arab world, from Yemen to Iraq, and even KSA and Lebanon. He then rekindled his holding onto Lebanon's unity, spurning plans to establish statelets and emirates. "Lebanon is too small to be divided," he corroborated.
Nasrallah explained that Lebanon was the most influenced by neighboring events, particularly in war-torn Syria, owing to the Lebanese internal configuration, intertwining interests, the relatively wide margins of liberties, plurality, and mostly the long-stretching borders with Syria, especially in Bekaa and the North.
Besides, he said there had been two methods to deal with Syria's dossier: the first consisted of having divergent opinions and different approaches, without allowing any crisis spillover into Lebanon, and the second sought to transfer the fight into the country.
Nasrallah said that his party was certainly following the first method, recognizing the efforts of the incumbent Lebanese government in protecting the internal scene from inter-wobbling.
"If the other camp was in power, it would have involved the country in an internal fight and in a fight with Syria," he noted.
Furthermore, Nasrallah shed a particular light on the emerging issue of a massive influx of Syrians and Palestinians displaced into Lebanon.
He viewed this dossier as a "major humanitarian case," calling to brush aside political considerations while dealing with this issue.
Nasrallah upped calls upon the Lebanese to cordially welcome the displaced families, whether they supported the regime of President Bashar Assad or not.
As highlighting the necessity to approach this matter on both the official and popular levels, Hezbollah leader said closing the borders with Syria was inadmissible.
"The real solution to this issue is not to close the borders but to treat the cause of it," he said, referring to the necessity to pave the way for a political solution in Syria prone to cease violence, carnage, and bloodshed.
"He who obstructs the political solution and dialogue in Syria, bears the responsibility of this displacement," he maintained.
Accordingly, Nasrallah called the Lebanese state and government to develop a political position from Syria's dossier, in compliance with the adopted dissociation policy.
"The Lebanese state is concerned with telling the US, Europe, the Arab League and the UN that they are saddling Lebanon with what it cannot bear."
He underscored that the state is called to press ahead so that a political solution for the 20-month-old Syrian crisis sees the light and is anchored.
On the long-simmering affair of the Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Syria, Nasrallah said this dossier had been clearly politicized.
As renewing that the state must shoulder its responsibility in this respect, Nasrallah however blamed the government for its "unconvincing" and "unsatisfying" efforts.
He thus suggested that the state carries out direct negotiations with kidnappers and exerts special efforts vis-à-vis states wielding influence on this affair, especially those providing funds, weapons, and passageways, namely Qatar, Turkey, and KSA.
Lastly, Nasrallah did not fail to remind that recently discovered oil and gas offshore resources were a national historic opportunity, expected to rescue Lebanon from the current economic hardship.
As hailing the key stages thus far achieved by the Lebanese government on this level, he nonetheless regretted that the Israeli enemy had completed all stages and that it shall venture into extracting and exporting oil and gas in the coming three months.
"We call for a national strategy to address this affair," he stressed, pointing out that the enemy has strategically modified its air and missiles forces and did whatever it took it to protect these resources on all the military, security and technological levels.
Therefore, Nasrallah said Hezbollah is fully ready to devise a national strategy on oil and gas resources in case the state asks for the assistance of the party.
Nasrallah finally renewed that the strength of the Resistance lied within faith, strong will, and aspiration for a decent life, instead of within its arsenal.
"Have no fear for the Resistance!" Nasrallah said, addressing "the enemies and the friends."
