Lebanon: Activist Says Nasrallah Wants Out

According to Lebanese activist Lokman Slim, in a “meeting two weeks ago, Nasrallah ‘complained he no longer wanted the job’” as Hezbollah’s head. Slim notes that the conflict in Syria, and Hezbollah’s close association and defense of President Bashar Al’Assad’s Regime, has negatively tainted the Middle East Sunni-majority’s perception of Hezbollah. Furthermore, with both of Hezbollah’s patrons enduring numerous difficulties- and it is unlikely the Assad Regime will survive the current uprising- Hezbollah’s own domestic difficulties have only worsened including “crime and social unrest in Shiite areas that the party is incapable of curtailing.” Finally, Slim notes that these, and other signs- such as the party being infiltrated by foreign intelligence services- signals “a fragmented resistance.”

Today, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri responded to President Bashar Al’Assad’s latest speech regarding the violence in Syria in which Hariri called the President’s speech “ridiculous.” Stating that Assad was in “self-denial,” Hariri slammed Assad’s speech over twitter. Samir Geagea, leader of the Lebanese Forces also noted that Assad “was out of touch with reality.”