Ali warns against repetition of Hezbollah's model
(Special to The Reference) – Director of the Center for Middle East Studies in Paris (CEMO) and Member of the Egyptian Parliament, Abdel Rahim Ali, invited attention today to the case of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
"The
Lebanese prime minister is not allowed to manage his country's affairs,"
Ali said. "It is Iran that manages Lebanon's affairs through
Hezbollah."
He lashed
out at a seminar organized by CEMO on dialogue between the two banks of the
Mediterranean at Western countries for overlooking the national interests of
Arab countries.
"You
are committing a grave mistake by not, for example, backing the Libyan National
Army against al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria," Ali said.
He added at
a seminar organized by CEMO on dialogue between the two banks of the
Mediterranean that everybody will pay dearly for this mistake.
Ali noted
that Western countries commit the same mistake by noting supporting the
Egyptian army in its ongoing war against terrorism.
"You do
the same when you do not back the Saudi-led Arab coalition against the Houthis
in Yemen," Ali added.
It is easy
for regional leaders, Ali said, to overlook the dangers posed by terrorist
groups in the region and even hammer out deals with these groups who can then
use Arab territories in attacking Western states.
"This
will be a terrifying scenario for Western states," Ali said.
The seminar
focuses on cooperation between Europe and non-European Mediterranean states,
including Egypt, in the fight against terrorism; illegal immigration;
education, and water.
The seminar
is held on the sidelines of the Two Mediterranean Banks summit which is held in
Marseilles on June 23 and 24.
CEMO takes
the opportunity of the summit to open discussion on the issues that cause
problems between countries on the two banks of the Mediterranean.
Apart from
the Arab-Israeli conflict, which stands behind most of the violence in our
world today, the Arab Spring came to wreak disaster on the world and widen the
scope of problems in it.
