Lebanon's former prime minister Saad Hariri said that the Shia
group Hezbollah has lost its claim to bear arms against Israel since
joining the war in Syria.
"The idea... that Lebanon needs the weapons of the resistance (Hezbollah) in order to face the Israeli threat... is an idea that has expired," Sunni Muslim leader Hariri said on Friday.
Hezbollah's weapons "have been shifted from fighting the Israeli enemy to fighting the Syrian people", he said in a television address from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he lives.
Hariri charged that the weapons belonging to Hezbollah were being used "to instill fear into Lebanon's political life".
In 2008, Hezbollah fighters seized control of a section of western Beirut during clashes with supporters of Hariri, sparking fears of a new civil war in Lebanon.
In recent months Hezbollah, whose military wing was blacklisted by the European Union in July, has fought in Syria alongside troops of President Bashar al-Assad to help crush an anti-regime armed opposition.
Hariri's remarks come a day after Lebanese President Michel Sleiman said for the first time that Hezbollah's arsenal should be at the service of the Lebanese state.
On Thursday, Sleiman also said he opposed the Shia movement's involvement in the conflict in Syria.
Hariri, the son of slain billionaire former premier Rafiq Hariri, has not been in Lebanon for nearly two years for fears of attempts of his life.[Al jazeera]
"The idea... that Lebanon needs the weapons of the resistance (Hezbollah) in order to face the Israeli threat... is an idea that has expired," Sunni Muslim leader Hariri said on Friday.
Hezbollah's weapons "have been shifted from fighting the Israeli enemy to fighting the Syrian people", he said in a television address from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he lives.
Hariri charged that the weapons belonging to Hezbollah were being used "to instill fear into Lebanon's political life".
In 2008, Hezbollah fighters seized control of a section of western Beirut during clashes with supporters of Hariri, sparking fears of a new civil war in Lebanon.
In recent months Hezbollah, whose military wing was blacklisted by the European Union in July, has fought in Syria alongside troops of President Bashar al-Assad to help crush an anti-regime armed opposition.
Hariri's remarks come a day after Lebanese President Michel Sleiman said for the first time that Hezbollah's arsenal should be at the service of the Lebanese state.
On Thursday, Sleiman also said he opposed the Shia movement's involvement in the conflict in Syria.
Hariri, the son of slain billionaire former premier Rafiq Hariri, has not been in Lebanon for nearly two years for fears of attempts of his life.[Al jazeera]
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