BEIRUT: The ongoing dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah will remain on track despite sharp differences over the conflict in Yemen, a March 8 source said Thursday.
“The Lebanese arena is still kept neutral [regarding the Yemen conflict],” the source told The Daily Star.
The Saudi-led airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in the Gulf state, has drawn mixed reactions from Lebanese leaders, reflecting their loyalty to rival regional powers which support opposing sides in Lebanon and the region.
While former Prime Minister Saad Hariri praised Saudi King Salman for his “wise” decision to launch a military offensive against the Houthi rebels, Hezbollah denounced the “Saudi-U.S. aggression” on Yemen as an “unwise adventure.”
“King Salman’s decision to intervene militarily in Yemen is wise and brave,” Hariri wrote on his Twitter account. “Iranian meddling in Yemen necessitates an Arab reaction,” he added, predicting that Yemenis would support the airstrikes.
Apparently seeking to avoid a split within its ranks, the Lebanese Cabinet did not comment after its weekly session Thursday on the developments in Yemen. Information Minister Ramzi Joreige said Prime Minister Tammam Salam would announce Lebanon’s position on the crisis in Yemen during the Arab summit scheduled to be held in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh Saturday.
In an interview with the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya channel, Hariri said Saudi Arabia could not leave “legitimate authority in Yemen facing alone a militia trying to dominate the Yemeni people.”
“They [Houthis] tried to stage a military coup with the force of arms against the Yemeni people. There were hostile attempts against Saudi Arabia,” he said. “What we are witnessing today will gain international support. No doubt, international legitimacy will support what Saudi Arabia did because it is the right decision to protect the Yemeni people.”
Hariri said the developments in Yemen were the results of the ongoing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and other countries. “Saudi Arabia cannot leave its neighborhood, especially Yemen, to be controlled by some militias,” he said.
The head of the Future Movement blamed Iran’s intervention in regional conflicts for the current turmoil in the region.
“Saudi Arabia has united the Arabs by the action it is carrying out in Yemen. I don’t think that anyone in the Arab world is against Iran but against its actions in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and throughout the Arab world,” Hariri said. “We all want good relations with Iran, but when it intervenes in Yemen in the flagrant manner it is doing with the Houthis, this will entail a realistic Arab reaction to deter Iran from meddling in Yemeni affairs.”“What is happening is more Iranian influence than Shiite influence. In the end, it is an attempt by Iran to take control of the region,” he said.
Hariri expressed hope that Lebanon, which is very far from Yemen, would not be affected by the dramatic developments in that country.
For its part, Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran and backs the Houthis, condemned as “unwise” and “illegitimate” the military intervention in Yemen, calling for an immediate halt to the airstrikes.
“Hezbollah strongly condemns the Saudi-U.S. aggression targeting the brotherly people of Yemen, its national army and its vital installations,” the party said in a statement.
It also denounced the participation of some Arab and non-Arab countries in “this aggression and providing it with political cover.”
“This Saudi-led adventure, which lacks wisdom and legal and legitimate justifications, is taking the region toward increased tension and risks the future and the present of the region,” the statement said. “We see that this aggression secures U.S. interests and does a great favor for the Zionist enemy.”
But Hezbollah said “this treacherous aggression” might offer an opportunity for the Yemeni people to close ranks with a view to reaching a political solution to the conflict.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah is expected to address the developments in Yemen during a televised speech Friday night. Nasrallah has in past speeches voiced support for the Houthis in their struggle to gain power in Yemen.
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt joined Hariri in voicing support for the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen.
Jumblatt said the fast-moving developments in Yemen posed a serious threat to the Gulf’s security and blamed the Houthis and their Iranian backers for scuttling Gulf efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully.
“In short, the Houthis, along with [former Yemeni President] Ali Abdullah Saleh and their Iranian allies, have foiled the Gulf initiative toward a solution in Yemen,” Jumblatt said in his Twitter account. “We stand by Saudi Arabia because the events in Yemen constitute a threat to its national security and the security of the Gulf as well as a threat to the interests of the Lebanese who have been working for decades in these [Gulf] countries.”
Jumblatt stressed that stability in Yemen and the region could only be restored through a return to dialogue and the Gulf initiative.
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