BEIRUT: Leniency toward ISIS in Lebanon contributed to the eruption of clashes in the border town and consequent abduction of soldiers, Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad said Wednesday, warning of dire consequences of such behavior.
“The series of beheading by the so-called ISIS would not have happened if it wasn't for the cover provided by some in Lebanon and the region,” Raad said during the burial ceremony of a Hezbollah member who was killed while he was trying to dismantle an Israeli spying device last week.
“We will not name the way things are now, but they should be careful that such a [cover] should not drag.”
“We are waiting for the wise people to recognize the reality and we are making room for contacts and the government should be aware of the danger of tolerance and leniency when dealing with [ISIS] because we cannot continue receiving the beheaded bodies of Ali al-Sayyed and Abbas Medlej every day,” he said.
Raad, the head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc in Parliament, said ISIS sympathizers were promoting the radical group's behavior in the media similar to what the West had done with Israel by portraying the Jewish state as a legend.
“Being lenient with ISIS or Israel will lead the country into a crisis ... even those who tolerate ISIS's criminal behavior have no luck with such groups.”
He boasted that Hezbollah defeated ISIS and its likes in Syrian towns of Qusair, Yabroud and other Qalamoun villages.
“What we did in the Qalamoun region stemmed from the fact that we know such events would take place in Arsal and every Lebanese village,” he said, reiterating Hezbollah's argument that the presence of resistance fighters in Syria was a pre-emptive battle against the rise of Islamist forces in Lebanon.
“We do not want to attack anyone, but we do not accept anyone in Lebanon to be tolerant toward those who attack our people and we will not be tolerant with those who attack our sons, our soldiers,” he said.
“ ISIS is not the protector of Sunnis as some fancy, and their want to use ISIS to settle accounts with their political rivals is a losing bet.”
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