SAUDI ARABIA: The deputy interior ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council meet in Riyadh on sanctions against the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah over its involvement in Syria's war

Record ID: 189235

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: The deputy interior ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council meet in Riyadh on sanctions against the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah over its involvement in Syria's war
  • Date: 15th September 2013
  • Summary: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (SEPTEMBER 15, 2013) (REUTERS ) DEPUTY INTERIOR MINISTERS OF THE GCC (GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL ) COUNTRIES ENTERING MEETING AT GCC HEADQUARTERS LOGO OF GCC VARIOUS OF GCC DEPUTY INTERIOR MINISTERS AND DELEGATES SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MAJOR GENERAL KHALID AL-ABSI, UNDERSECRETARY OF BAHRAIN'S INTERIOR MINISTRY AND CHAIRMAN OF THE MEETING, SAYING: "We call in our meeting today to raise recommendations that would enable our neighbouring countries to take effective measures in tackling any terrorist activities that may be committed by Hezbollah and those who belong to it." VARIOUS OF DELEGATES SEATED ATTENDANCE APPLAUDING FOLLOWING AL-ABSI'S SPEECH GCC LOGO / BAHRAIN AND SAUDI FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HAZA'A AL-HAJRI, THE GCC'S ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL FOR SECURITY AFFAIRS, SAYING: "The issues that have been discussed by the deputy interior ministers today will be raised at the next meeting of interior ministers in order to take the appropriate decision," DEPUTY MINISTER LEAVING MEETING HALL
  • Embargoed: 30th September 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7REGKM1DPWF83JV2VK6NI7QCE
  • Story Text: Deputy interior ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) of six rich Arab countries met in the Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh on Sunday (September 13) to discuss the implementation of sanctions against members of the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah - retaliation for Hezbollah fighters joining Syrian government troops to crush rebels.
    Major General Khalid Al-Absi, the Under-secretary of Bahrain's Interior Ministry, said the meeting was aimed at sharing ideas and recommendations with other officials in order to consider punitive measures against the group.

    "We call in our meeting today to raise recommendations that would enable our neighbouring countries to take effective measures in tackling any terrorist activities that may be committed by Hezbollah and those who belong to it," said Al-Absi.
    During a meeting of senior GCC security officials in Riyadh in July, Al-Absi, said the move against the group came after the "discovery of several Hezbollah terror cells in the Gulf states, their involvement in training of terror groups and their flagrant involvement in Syria."
    The GCC's Assistant Secretary General for Security Affairs, Haza'a Al-Hajri, said Sunday's recommendations would be presented to the Council's interior ministers who can then devise proper action.

    "The issues that have been discussed by the deputy interior ministers today will be raised at the next meeting of interior ministers in order to take the appropriate decision," he said.
    Set up by Shi'ite power Iran in the 1980s to fight Israeli occupation forces in south Lebanon, the Islamist group has sent its guerrillas to fight alongside the army in Syria's civil war, leading to defeats for rebels armed by some Gulf Arab states.
    Both Sunni and Shi'ite Arab states long backed Hezbollah as a bulwark against Israel, but the Arab League, heavily influenced by Sunni-led Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, in June strongly condemned Hezbollah's intervention, highlighting how Syria's war is widening sectarian divisions in the region.
    Saudi Arabia and Qatar, both GCC members and U.S. allies, have been explicit in calling for Assad to go and have been helping to arm the mostly Sunni rebels seeking to oust him and his mostly Alawite establishment, members of an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.
    The US retreat from the threat of attacking Assad's forces by agreeing with the Russians to destroy Syria's chemical weapons and pushing for a diplomatic resolution of the civil war has left Arab states alone in demanding Assad's removal.
    Gulf watchers say Qatar, which began arming rebel units last year, and Saudi Arabia, which stepped in as the main supplier this year will keep the weapons coming to the rebels Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah became a hero in the Arab world after his forces helped to push Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon in 2000, and then confronted the Jewish state in a short war in 2006.
    But Hezbollah's increasing involvement in Syria has turned many against him.
    Many Lebanese perceive Nasrallah's support for Assad as a miscalculation that will drag Lebanon into the Syrian quagmire, exacerbate fighting in Lebanon itself and deepen Sunni-Shi'ite sectarian rifts in the region.
    GCC member Bahrain has called Nasrallah a terrorist and banned its citizens from having any contact with the group.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register