Last update - 21:14 24/01/2002
Lebanon's largest paper decries Hezbollah attacks on Israel
By Daniel Sobelman, Ha'aretz Correspondent
An Nahar, Lebanon's largest daily, published an editorial Thursday in which the paper's editor, Gebran Tueni, says Hezbollah attacks on Israel "could drag Lebanon, Syria and the entire region into war and disaster."
He wonders if "it is reasonable that the Hezbollah and its military forces continue to control the destiny of the Lebanese people" and calls on Lebanon and Syria to start disarming the organization.
Another commentator in the paper, Ali Hamada, described the Hezbollah rocket attack on Mt. Dov this week as "an adventure" that took place at a most "sensitive and dangerous" time. He said the operation "served everything except the liberation of the Shaba Farms."
The pro-Hezbollah daily, A-Safir, which also backs Syria, did not criticize the Hezbollah action, saying it was meant to "send the message" that the military option to win the Shaba Farms still exists, "and that the Lebanese prisoners [held by Israel] still exist." He said
Hezbollah stands out as the main Arab organization trying to help the Palestinians. "That doesn't mean that everything the movement does in this matter is correct, but it means that the movement feels it would lose some of its significance and raison d'etre if it does not translate its words into deeds."
Lebanese political sources quoted in the newspaper said that if Israel had reacted strongly to the attack, it would have signaled that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wants all-out war in the north. |
