By Tim Butcher
America deployed a warship off the coast of Lebanon yesterday prompting anger from Iran-backed Hizbollah and surprise from the pro-Washington Lebanese prime minister.
Fouad Saniora said that he had not requested the display of naval power.
The USS Cole, a guided missile destroyer that was almost sunk by al-Qa'eda in a terrorist attack off Yemen eight years ago, was steaming in international waters just off the Lebanese coast.
An unnamed US military source said the deployment was meant as "a show of support for regional stability" because of Washington's concern about the political crisis in Lebanon.
Squabbling between the pro-Syrian and anti-Syrian factions has paralysed Lebanese politics for months, leaving the country unable to pass any basic legislation, including the national budget, or chose a head of state or president.
Members of Hizbollah, the Lebanese Shia movement supported and financed by Teheran, were critical of the move.
"This decision proves it's the United States which is interfering in Lebanese affairs and that this interference has taken on a military slant," Hussein Hajj Hassan, a Hizbollah MP, said.
No comments:
Post a Comment