Aoun rejects US claims about Hezbollah’s Influence over Lebanon govt.

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Lebanese President Michel Aoun stressed Wednesday that “it is not true that Hezbollah's influence over Lebanon is increasing.”

“This is the U.S. vision and it contradicts with reality, seeing as Hezbollah has maintained the same political presence it had in the previous government, and it is not true that its influence over Lebanon is increasing,” Aoun told a delegation from the Editors Syndicate, when asked about the U.S. concerns over Hezbollah.

“What some political circles say sometimes in this regard is mere bickering and even at the security level they say that Hezbollah has influence in the South and the Bekaa but there is no security authority higher than that of the army and security forces, which carried out major security operations recently in the region and consolidated security and stability,” the president added.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard held talks Tuesday with Prime Minister Saad Hariri and relayed to him U.S. concern over Hezbollah's “growing role in the Cabinet.”

Hezbollah “continues to make its own national security decisions” and “continues to violate the government’s disassociation policy by participating in armed conflict in at least three other countries,” the ambassador said.

On February 4, the Hezbollah secretary general flatly rejected allegations by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his movement is in control of the Lebanese government, stressing the new administration belongs to all political factions participating in it.

The Israeli premier is “provoking the United States, European countries and the [Persian] Gulf states against the Lebanese government, claiming that it is controlled by Hezbollah. Such false claims have serious international repercussions,” Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said as he addressed his supporters via a televised speech broadcast live from Beirut.

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