Lebanon FM trying to prevent condemnation of Hezbollah’s Syria role by UN Human Rights

The Lebanese newspaper As Safir reported on Monday that Qatar and Saudi Arabia are leading a diplomatic effort for the adoption of a statement by the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva that denounces Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian war.

As Safir which is closely linked to Hezbollah and the Syrian regime claims that that the two Arab Gulf countries are seeking to include a clause in the closing statement of the council’s annual meeting , but Lebanon’s foreign minister Gebran Bassil is trying hard to prevent such a move on the grounds it could impair the stability of the country.

Bassil who represents the Free Patriotic Movement in the cabinet is General Michel Aoun’s son- in-law . Aoun is a staunch ally of Hezbollah and the Syrian regime .

According to As Safir, the Lebanese ministry of Foreign affairs has stressed to the UN representatives that the priority of the Lebanese authorities at the current stage is to safeguard stability and avoid anything that creates chaos.

Last year, Lebanon thwarted a similar attempt after Riyadh and Doha reacted positively to its demand not to condemn Hezbollah, which sent tens of thousands of fighters to Syria to help the troops loyal to Syrian President Bahsar Assad in the fight against the mostly Sunni rebels.

But in 2013, the 47-member Council backed a resolution from the United States, Britain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, condemning “the intervention of all foreign combatants in the Syrian Arab Republic, including those fighting on behalf of the regime and most recently Hezbollah.”

In December last year, the U.N. General Assembly also adopted a resolution that strongly condemned the interference of foreign fighters in Syria, in addition to the “Hezbollah militia.”
Update

Russia defends Hezbollah’s role in Syria

Russia, which has been backing the Syrian regime ever since the 4 year uprising started called the Qatar Saudi effort to condemn Hezbollah’s Syria role” illogical”.

Its ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin said Monday that it would be illogical for the United Nations to condemn Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria since the group is allied with Damascus.

“This is absolutely illogical, because Hezbollah stands by the legitimate regime and does not fight it.”He said

Zasypkin, who spoke to reporters after meeting with Bassil, noted that numerous groups and factions fighting in Syria had illegally entered Syria from across the world in a bid to overthrow the government.

It does not make sense to single out Hezbollah since the group was fighting on the “legitimate” side, he added.

Zasypkin held that the Syrian government was facing a “terrorist offensive,” and Hezbollah was countering, rather than contributing to, this campaign.

“The main fight should be against the factions that are conventionally considered terrorist, who are fighting the legitimate authorities in Iraq and Syria,” he added, identifying the Nusra Front and ISIS as examples.