Hezbollah central council member Nabil Kaouk in South Lebanon. (Credit: Courtesy of Muntasser Abdallah)
BEIRUT — Hezbollah central council member Nabil Kaouk on Sunday accused Saudi Arabia of committing "public poisonous interventions" in Lebanon to incite its people against each other. Kaouk's comments came in a statement made during a Hezbollah ceremony to honor a deceased party member in South Lebanon.
During a press conference held at the UNESCO Palace in Beirut on Saturday, the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon Waleed Bukhari stressed "the interest of Saudi Arabia and its authorities in preserving security, unity and stability in Lebanon, and the preservation of the Taif Agreement."
The conference was organized on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the Taif Agreement — which ended a 15-year civil war in Lebanon, under the auspices of Saudi Arabia — as statements multiplied in the past few weeks highlighting the need to protect the agreement.
The meeting comes two weeks after a canceled dinner at the Swiss Embassy, meant to be attended by Lebanon's main political groups. The dinner was canceled after Saudi objections and a boycott by members of Lebanon's Parliament, including the Lebanese Forces. The LF is an ally of Saudi Arabia and considered the move an attempt to overturn the Taif Agreement in order to produce a new political system.
Kaouk said on Sunday that "there are public poisonous interventions from Saudi Arabia who wants to incite the Lebanese against each other and prevent them from dialogue," adding that he wonders "whether Saudi Arabia has the right to interfere in Lebanese affairs."
Kaouk also stressed that "none of the main parties concerned in the country proposed changing the Taif [Agreement], and we believe that using this issue is [a move] to cover up external interference that prevents dialogue between the Lebanese and prevents the election of a consensual president," adding that his party "will not allow any foreign country to exercise guardianship over Lebanon or to lay out the specifications of the president, who is supposed to be consensual and patriotic with 100 percent national specifications."
For the first time in its history, Lebanon is experiencing a vacuum in both the presidency and at the level of the cabinet. Michel Aoun's presidential term ended on Oct. 31, and despite convening four electoral sessions, Parliament has thus far failed to elect a new head of state.