BEIRUT: Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s criticism of the Bahraini government should not negatively affect Lebanese that are working there or in other Gulf countries, Prime Minister Tammam Salam said Sunday, in a bid to quell tensions over comments made by Hezbollah’s leader earlier this month.
Speaking to visitors at his residence in Msaitbeh, Salam emphasized that thousands of expat workers in the region were there purely for work reasons, and provide numerous benefits for Lebanon and its economy.
When asked whether the latest developments, particularly the very public bickering going on following Nasrallah’s comments in a Jan. 9 speech, would affect the government’s work and its ties with Bahrain and its neighbors, Salam said this was not the first time the government had dealt with such problems.
“This isn’t the first time that [certain] political factions are tackled about such things, and they are represented in the government,” he said, a reference to Hezbollah.
Asked whether the issue would be tackled in the Cabinet, he replied: “We are fixing this issue ... But what has been said doesn’t express the Lebanese government’s position or its politics.”
This echoed an earlier statement by the premier Saturday, in which he reiterated that “any remarks made by a Lebanese political faction against Bahrain do not represent the official position of the Lebanese government.”
He added that Lebanon’s diverse political fabric allowed for contrasting opinions and should not be used to justify harming Lebanon’s ties with ally states.
Two weeks ago, Nasrallah publically denounced Bahrain’s arrest of Sheikh Ali Salman, the leader of the country’s main opposition group, calling the move “very dangerous.”
Bahrain has been in turmoil since 2011 when a popular pro-democracy movement was violently crushed. Its population is majority Shiite, and is ruled by the Khalifa royal family, who are Sunni.
Nasrallah voiced his strong support of the opposition movement, which is largely Shiite, accusing the Bahraini government of being “tyrannical and oppressive.” He also compared the Bahraini government’s actions to those of the Zionist project, accusing it of naturalizing Sunnis from across the region to change the country’s demographics.
Salam’s comments are the most recent in a wave of Lebanese political reactions – not all condemnatory – to Nasrallah’s comments following the Arab League’s provocative statement on the issue last Thursday.
The League called Nasrallah’s remarks a “repetitive interference in the internal affairs of Bahrain” and called on the Lebanese government to take a clear stance on the matter.
That same day, the Future bloc condemned Nasrallah’s decision to speak so bluntly about events in Bahrain, accusing him of “unacceptable interference” in the Gulf country’s affairs.
“The Lebanese have not only received help and solidarity ... from the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, [but these countries] have always backed Lebanese’s unity and stability,” the bloc said in a statement following its weekly meeting. “This should not be rewarded with an attempt to incite turmoil inside their nations.”
Bahrain’s foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmad al-Khalifa, took to Twitter Friday to accuse Lebanon of being controlled by a “terrorist agent,” in reference to Nasrallah.
It wasn’t until Saturday, in comments published by a local newspaper, that Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil weighed in.
“Lebanon’s implicit position does not differ from that of Arab states as per the [Arab League] statement with regards to non-interference in Bahraini affairs,” Bassil said, and as a result, “the Lebanese should not be punished for the position of a certain group.”
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