Report: US leaked warning on Hezbollah Scud possession
Western sources tell Kuwait newspaper Americans leaked suspicions that Shiite group acquired Scud missiles from Syria so that UN will deploy forces along Lebanon-Syria border. Source close to Hezbollah: It will fight plan with all means at its disposal
Officials in the US administration were the ones who leaked suspicions that Hezbollah had acquired Scud missiles from Syria, in order to "lay the groundwork for a proposal to the UN Security Council, to put together a resolution on the deployment of UN forces along the Syrian-Lebanese border," the Kuwaiti Al-Rai newspaper reported Sunday.
The paper quoted Western diplomatic sources as saying that the aim of the deployment would be to stopper a supply route to Hezbollah, which allows it to hoard missiles in Lebanon.
The sources said the "Scud missile crisis" is aimed at preventing further escalation that may lead to war.
A source close to Hezbollah told Al-Rai that Lebanon "will never agree to the deployment of international forces along the border with Syria. Lebanon is well aware that the US is trying to placate Israel at the expense of the Lebanese nation and its means of resistance against Israel – Hezbollah.
"The group (Hezbollah) will fight this plan with the help of the government, the army, the Lebanese people and all other means at its disposal," he said.
Meanwhile, a senior US Administration official told "Foreign Policy" that Hezbollah was trying to provoke Israel in hopes that the Jewish state will launch a new war.
According to him, Jerusalem is aware of the Shiite group's intentions and is therefore trying to avoid further escalation. However, said the source, Israel has also told Washington that it will not be able to ignore the developments in the north much longer.
The official told the magazine that Hezbollah still wants to avenge the assassination of its senior commander, Imad Mugniyeh, and is therefore interested in another military conflict with Israel.
