Hariri: Lebanese Keen on Arab Identity, Won't Betray Brothers, KSA Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri stressed Wednesday that the Lebanese are “keen on their Arab identity” and that they will not “betray their brothers, especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” “Our only project is the State project. We are the movement of moderation and the rejection of sectarian sedition. We are the movement that is keen on Lebanon's Arab identity,” said Hariri during an iftar banquet he held at the Rafik Hariri University in Mechref in honor of families from Iqlim al-Kharroub. “We will stand in the face of any scheme aimed at undermining Lebanon's ties with its Arab brothers... We reject any Iranian hegemony over Lebanon's domestic and foreign policies,” he added. “The Lebanese rejected the hegemony of the Syrian regime over Lebanon although it carried the slogan of Arabism, so what do you think they will do in the face of Iran's hegemony attempts under the slogans of defiance and resistance?” Hariri went on to say. He also reminded that “Lebanon's Arab identity was settled” in the 1989 Taef Accord that ended the country's 15-year civil war. “Any party or armed organization in Lebanon will not be able to force the Lebanese to accept the approach of surrendering to the Iranian policies,” added Hariri, referring to Tehran and its Lebanese ally Hizbullah. “The Lebanese who are keen on their Arab identity will not betray their brothers, especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, no matter how high the voices of bias and ungratefulness might be,” the ex-PM vowed. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly lashed out at Saudi Arabia in recent months over its policies in Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq and Syria and the kingdom has responded by labeling the party as a terrorist group and by halting $4 billion in aid for Lebanon's army and security forces. Nasrallah also criticizes Bahrain's rulers on a regular basis over Manama's crackdown on the kingdom's Shiite-led protest movement. |