Lavrov: Hezbollah Fighters Deploy in Syria to Protect Religious Shrines

Local Editor

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned against “the increasing flow of foreign fighters who are coming to Syria from North Africa and Europe”.

“Since the beginnig of the crisis, we warned against internationalizing the conflict, yet the flow of foreign fighters to Syria, those who are coming from Libya, North Africa, Middle East, Europe and other regions, has been steadily increasing”, he added.

Concerning the deployment of Hezbollah fighters in Syria, Lavrov said “that this comes in order to protect the Shiite Holy sites there, and Hezbollah does not conceal this fact”.

Lavrov recalled what “Secretary-General of Hezbollah Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah publicly announced about the deployment of his fighters in Syria to primarily protect the Shiites, the Alawites, and the Shiite shrines that are exposed to the attacks of the militants and face the threat of destruction”.

Russian FM also pointed to the increasing flow of weapons to militants despite the fact that supplying weapons to non-governmental groups was illegal according to the International law. Lavrov also considered that “the non-extension of the EU ban on the supply of arms to Syria places obstacles in the way of Geneva Conference”.

“The European decision raises questions, knowing that from the beginning, imposing the ban on arms supply, that is basically prevented according to the international law, was ambiguous. However, lifting the ban now complicates the situation.

In a different context, Lavrov considered “that the only way to put an end to the Syrian crisis is to hold an international conference”. He added that the conflict in Syria has taken a sectarian nature, and “this would threaten the Islamic unity and the non-Islamic elements of the Syrian Society”.

Lavrov also called for holding an international conference to reach political solutions for the Syrian Crisis, away from the unilateral and double-standard prospects to the Syrian conflict. He also mentioned that all the countries that are concerned with the Syrian crisis must attend, including Iran.

Russian Top Diplomat also said that the intention of the Human Rights Council to issue a resolution on Syria will not help holding Geneva Conference 2. He added that this unilateral resolution comes in the context of the efforts that led to the resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations which condemned Syria.

“Russia is astonished by such efforts of the US, Turkey, and Qatar”, Lavrov added.

Source: Al Manar