Lebanese PM: Hizbullah a Regional Problem

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has rejected accusations that his government is accountable for the activities of Hizbullah, and instead suggested the terrorist organization is a problem for the entire Middle East. “I am a pragmatic person and I know my limits, and I know the limits of this region,” Hariri said in an interview with US media. “If people were serious about this issue, they would have done things 10, 15, 20, 30 years [ago].” The Lebanese premier specifically invoked Israel in his comments, arguing that Jerusalem “wants to have… this scenario that Lebanon is responsible.… If you want to buy [what Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu says], buy it. But he knows and the international community knows that this is not true.” Hariri’s statements come days after a major flare-up along the Israel-Lebanon border in which Hizbullah fired numerous anti-tank missiles at Israeli military positions. In response, the Israel Defense Forces fired some 100 mortar rounds in southern Lebanon and struck various Hizbullah assets by air. The Israeli government has a policy of holding the governing entity of a given country responsible for any attacks emanating from its territory. In the aftermath of Sunday’s cross-border fire, Israel’s foreign minister conveyed through his German counterpart a stern warning to Beirut: “If you do not restrain Hizbullah’s actions against Israel, all of Lebanon will suffer the consequences.”