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Hezbollah: US main cause of persisting crisis in Syria

Sunday, 24 February 2019 6:32 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 24 February 2019 6:40 PM ]

Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem

A high-ranking member of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement says the United States is the main cause of the persisting crisis in Syria.

In remarks published by Hezbollah’s Media Relations Office on Sunday, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said the US had prolonged the presence of foreign-backed militants in the Middle Eastern country.

“The long war in Syria is because of the US, which is now hindering the settlement there,” he said, adding that Washington was also using evil schemes in an attempt to destabilize the Arab country.

However, the US “is moving from one defeat to another, but it doesn’t want to acknowledge that,” Qassem further said.

“Through resistance, we forced Israel out of Lebanon. Through resistance, we managed to impose the equation of deterrence. Through resistance, Lebanon and Palestine managed to confront Israel. Through resistance, we wiped out Takfiri terrorism in the region. Through resistance, we dealt blows to the US and prevented Washington from achieving its goals in our region,” Qassem added.

He also cautioned those who count on the US to resolve the persisting issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, saying they were making a losing bet.

PressTV-‘US aims to prevent Syrian refugees’ repatriation’

A senior Hezbollah official has warned that the US is seeking to prevent the return of Syrian refugees in Lebanon to their homeland.

Qassem also described the US stance toward the region’s issues as an oppressive one and against the people’s interests. He also lashed out at some Arab countries for destabilizing the region, noting that they were being supported by the White House.

More than one million Syrian refugees are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lebanon. The Beirut government estimates that the true number of Syrians in Lebanon stands at 1.5 million.

Tens of thousands of Lebanon-based Syrian refugees have so far returned to their homeland. However, Hezbollah says that the US is spearheading a global scheme aimed at preventing the return of the rest of the Syrian refugees under the pretext that the situation in Syria is still unstable.

An armed conflict began in Syria in 2011. The Syrian military, backed by the Russian air force and Iranian military advisers, has taken back control of most of the areas in Syria that had been held by militant and terrorist groups.

Pockets of Daesh terrorists remain on a tiny patch of territory — the village of Beghouz — in northern Syria, near the Iraqi border.

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