Israel Matzav

Hezbullah places itself at Assad's disposal, Hezbullah drone crashes

According to a report on Thursday in Lebanon’s Al-Joumhouria newspaper, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah “placed all of Hizbuulah capabilities at al-Assad’s disposal, in the event of the Syrian regime requiring urgent assistance.”

The newspaper quoted senior political sources as confirming that there had been contact between Assad and Nasrallah, and that “Nasrallah had offered al-Assad two forms of assistance, firstly he offered elements of Hizbullah’s special forces any time they are needed, even if they are required to be sent to open fronts to fight the revolutionaries. Secondly, Nasrallah invited the Syrian president to his personal residence, or even to meet inside the Iranian embassy in Beirut.”

The report said that Assad “has opted to remain in Syria because he still believes he is able to steer the ship with the help of some Russian political and military experts.”

The article also said that Hizbullah, prior to the death of Syrian Defense Minister General Daoud Rajha in a Damascus bombing last week, “had – with the Defense Minister and the Syrian Chief of Staff – developed a military plan to intervene directly to support the regime, in the event of it facing any form of foreign aggression. This plan included strategies to deploy radars and missiles in the Beqaa Valley and to supply the Syrian army with 2,000 elite Hizbullah troops.”

However, Lebanese MP Kamel Rifai, a member of Hizbullah’s parliamentary bloc, downplayed the report and told the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper on Thursday that “despite the fact that the resistance holds the Syrian leadership in high regard, it will not interfere in any internal conflict in Syria.”

He added, “The resistance will not point its weapons at any Arab entity, because these weapons and those men are to fight against the Zionist enemy.”

Hizbullah fighters have lately crossed the area of Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali in Hermel to Syria to help Syrian government troops in their fight against rebels, security sources said.

The sources told An Nahar daily published on Friday that the militants from the 910 unit of Hizbullah’s Jihad Council are fighting alongside the Syrian forces in the areas of al-Qussair, Homs and al-Rastan.

Hizbullah has also a strong military presence in the area of Zabadani, the same sources said.

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Meanwhile, an object that cashed in the Younine region of the eastern city of Baalbek earlier in the month was a Mirsad-1 reconnaissance drone operated by Hizbullah, the sources said.

The party was carrying out a test on how to equip the aircraft with explosives to attack specific targets by remote control, they added.

Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Hezbullah, Syrian uprising

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:43 AM