Saudi allies try to rationalize Daesh attacks in Lebanon: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed Ibrahim Mousawi, a political commentator in Beirut, about the Lebanese army's arrest of more than 100 illegal Syrian refugees in the wake of recent bombings near the border with crisis-stricken Syria, which killed five people and left nearly two dozen others wounded.

A rough transcription of the interview appears below.

Press TV: If you were to take a look at the spillover that is happening from Syria into Lebanon, is it correct to conclude that if these terrorists are on the run, there will be more or an increase in attacks in neighboring countries like Lebanon?

Mousawi: Well, yes actually. If we want to take into consideration the recent developments that are taking place in the battle front, we have to understand that the Takfiri groups are mounting their hostile operations against not only the Syrian army but also against the Lebanese territories.

Here you are talking about the Takfiri groups that want to create a scene in the region to say that they are still there, are capable of launching attacks but if you really want to dig deep down to understand what is happening it would be nonsense that you are talking around eight, some sources [are] talking about ten, those who have been coming, eight of them have detonated themselves in suicidal operations against civilians and against the Lebanese army in the al-Qaa area eastern northern part of Lebanon. Why would they do such a thing? You are talking here about almost a dozen of the Takfiri groups coming and detonating themselves. What is it of a goal? Is it so valuable that they do that?

I believe here you are talking about a mixture of despair and of inability to do anything against military forces. That is why they go and target civilians but this is by itself a threat to the Lebanese community, to the Lebanese society that is asked and requested indeed to come in solidarity, to face up and to stand to all those threats and to all those attacks against the Lebanese army and Lebanese civilians.

Press TV: If we want to take a look at the bigger picture, we know that Saudi Arabia and Israel are kind of coming out showing their relationship and of course one of the things that Saudi Arabia or Israel wants is to weaken Hezbollah, hence the focus to come on to Lebanon, they are not winning the fight in Syria so there may be plans perhaps forged to come into Lebanon. We saw what Saudi Arabia did when they cut off the two or three billion dollars of military equipment that they were supposed to provide the Lebanese army with. Do you think that Lebanon will become a focus if they fail in Syria?

Mousawi: Well as you have already seen and as everybody has already seen we know very well that Saudi Arabia is - I mean everybody is saying, this is the report coming from the international bodies that - Saudi Arabia is helping and giving supplies, military supplies, political support to the Takfiri groups and the first thing that they talked about the 4-billion-dollar aid to the Lebanese army and they stopped it, now we can see very well that their position is in total support for the Takfiri groups regardless of all the propaganda that they spill here and there.

Moreover, if you take into consideration the positions that are adopted by the proxies of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon like the Future Party, you will see that they are one way or another trying to give a rationalization and to justify the attacks and to say that it is because of Hezbollah’s interference in Syria. Though the majority of the Lebanese know by now hadn’t it been for Hezbollah interference there, then the Takfiri groups would have been in different areas in Lebanon. This is one thing.

If their intention is to weaken Hezbollah, I believe they have done the wrong thing because now people are getting more and more aware of the Takfiri threat and they know who supports the Takfiri threat and they know who is in resistance of the Takfiri threat and this boils down to the interest of Hezbollah more than any other party.

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