Russia defends Hezbollah’s role in Syrian uprising

A day after the Hezbollah leader admitted that his group is helping Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in fighting the uprising against his rule , Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin said in remarks published Wednesday that the Syrian regime has every right to ask for Hezbollah’s help in fighting Syrian rebels.

“The Syrian regime is free to ask for the help of Hezbollah,” Zasypkin told Al-Akhbar newspaper.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, a close ally of Assad also hinted in his speech last night that Russia and Iran, Syria’s principal supporters, would intervene militarily to prevent his defeat.

“Syria has real friends in the region and the world that will not let Syria fall in the hands of America, Israel or Takfiri (extreme jihadi) groups,” Nasrallah said in a broadcast on Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV channel, a day after arriving in Tehran. “How will this happen? Details will come later. I say this based on information … rather than wishful thinking.”

Lebanese authorities have officially followed the policy to distance the country from the Syrian conflict. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman has been calling on the Lebanese people to abide by the dissociation policy and not meddle in the Syrian affairs so as to safeguard the national unity and prevent any tension locally.