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Report: Hizbullah Debates Dropping Support for Syria's Assad

(Telegraph-UK) Nick Meo, Ruth Sherlock, and Carol Malouf - The Sunday Telegraph has been told of secret arguments raging inside Hizbullah's ranks about whether the time has come to stop backing the Assad regime in Syria. "There are different points of view, with some saying that we should push for a settlement within Syria and not bank on Assad staying," said one Lebanese with connections to senior Hizbullah circles. Some Hizbullah members, including clerics, fear that their support for Assad is dragging them into a dangerous fight with Sunni Arabs in Syria and Lebanon. They say it is now urgent to end their support for Assad, so that a new relationship can be formed with whoever comes to power in Syria next. "The future of Hizbullah and the Shia is directly related to the future of Syria. If Bashar is to be sacrificed, let's sacrifice him and not Syria," the source said. Disagreement is said to be strongest between civilian Hizbullah members, who are more likely to favor cutting links with Damascus, and its powerful military wing, still fiercely loyal to the Syrian regime.
2012-10-29 00:00:00
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