Qatar accuses Hezbollah of killing , displacing Syrians

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah   accused  Hezbollah  on Thursday of  “killing” and “displacing” Syrians.

“To us, Hezbollah – and I have said this on more than one occasion – was a resistance party until the compass veered to Syria,” Attiyah told   Al-Hayat newspaper .

“The Syrian people  in 2006 embraced Hezbollah refugees. They  welcomed them, protected them and were  generous to them,” he said.

He was referring to the  2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah . The war resulted in the  killing of over  1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and displacement of  one million people,  mostly Shiites and many of whom fled to Syria.

“We were surprised during the Syrian revolution that Hezbollah returned the favor to the Srian people by   by killing  and displacing them from their homes,” Attiyah said. “This is the core of  our disagreement with Hezbollah.”

Hezbollah  including  its  chief  Hassan Nasrallah, have  along with Iran and the Syrian regime repeatedly accused Qatar and other Gulf countries of politically and financially supporting jihadi groups fighting in Syria.

In the Al-Hayat interview , Attiyah denied supporting terrorism, saying Qatar is a U.S. ally.

“Qatar is an ally of Washington, not only in war, but the United States is a strategic ally, especially to Qatar,” he said.

Last July, the Gulf Cooperation Council — which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the UAE — decided to   crack down on Hezbollah members as part of a joint effort to limit the group’s “financial and business transactions.”

In September, undersecretaries of the GCC’s interior ministries discussed possible measures against suspected Hezbollah members living in the Gulf.

 The majority of Gulf countries back the rebels who are trying to topple the Syrian regime

There are more than half a million Lebanese working in the Gulf states, including tens of thousands in Saudi Arabia. Many of whom  are Shiites.