Hezbollah militia chief says stopped ISIL spreading to Lebanon: reportJune 18, 2014 - 16:00 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Lebanon's Hezbollah militia chief said his fighters' intervention in Syria had kept an al Qaeda splinter group that has seized territory in Iraq from spreading west into Lebanon, a newspaper reported on Tuesday, June 17, according to Reuters. Hezbollah, a Shi'ite Muslim group, has provided significant help to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in retaking some territory from Sunni rebels bent on ousting him. In the process, Hezbollah men have often clashed with Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) rebels, who formally broke with al Qaeda in February and have since made rapid gains in Syria and Iraq. ISIL, which aims to establish a caliphate based on medieval Islamic principles and spanning the two countries, stunned Iraqi leaders when it overran Iraq's second-largest city Mosul last week, then thrust south to the fringes of Baghdad. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was quoted by Lebanese newspaper Al-Safir as telling a meeting of party backers that ISIL could have spread to Lebanon if Hezbollah had not stepped in. "If we had not intervened in Syria at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way ... ISIL would now be in Beirut." Nasrallah praised calls by Shi'ite clerics in Iraq for volunteers to take up arms against ISIL, whose swift advance through majority Sunni areas of northern Iraq threatens civil war and a possible break-up of the country. "The aim of this (call) was not to protect a specific sect, but to protect all of Iraq," Nasrallah said. Opponents of Hezbollah's intervention in Syria say it has dragged Lebanon further into its civil war, worsened sectarian tensions in Lebanon and marked a departure from Hezbollah's founding mission of confronting Israel. But members of Lebanon's Shi'ite community have also been alarmed by the rise of radical Sunni jihadists in Syria. Sunni militants have hit Shi'ite targets in Lebanon with car bomb attacks, although those have stopped since Hezbollah and Syrian government forces ousted rebels from a series of towns and villages near the Lebanese border in March and April. Hezbollah and Assad are both backed by Iran, the biggest Shi'ite power, while Sunni Gulf Arab monarchies have backed Sunni insurgents in Syria. Photo: Bilal Hussein/AP Photo Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |