Last update - 00:00 14/09/2006
Rift erupts between Hezbollah, anti-Syrian bloc in Lebanon
By DPA
BEIRUT - A deep rift erupted Thursday between two of the major political blocs in Lebanese politics, the Shiite Hezbollah group and the anti-Syrian majority bloc known as the March 14 forces.
The rift is the culmination of a period of intense tension and bitter exchanges of accusations related to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, in which more than 1,200 people were killed.
The crisis surfaced after Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah accused the majority bloc of "stabbing his guerrillas in the back" while fighting Israel.
The military conflict with Israel broke out on July 12 after Hezbollah captured two Israel Defense Forces soldiers in a cross-border raid, and Israel launched a wide-scale offensive against the militant group.
Hezbollah deputies and leaders have also been calling for the past two days on the government of Premier Fouad Siniora to "step down and pave the way for a national unity government."
Hezbollah has two ministers in Siniora's government.
A member of the parliamentary majority, acting interior minister Ahmed Fatfat described Thursday the hardline tone of Nasrallah and his 14-member parliament bloc as an "invitation to kill."
MP Samir Franjiyeh, member of the March 14 forces, said that the current dispute with Hezbollah reflected a crisis inside the party.
Franjiyeh called on Hezbollah to open up to all political forces in order to confront the crisis that resulted from the war and learn from mistakes to avoid another disaster.
"What is needed is for Hezbollah to admit that what happened was wrong ... to return to calm and stop accusations of treason," Franjiyeh said.
Sources close to Shiite House Speaker Nabih Berri, who has close links to Hezbollah but also maintains good relations with the majority, said Berri had sent his aide Ali Hassan Khalil to meet majority leader Saad Hariri and some Hezbollah officials.
Khalil was quoted Thursday as saying that "the priority now should be given to ways to reinforce the government, not to changing it," indicating a difference in views between the movement headed by Berri and Hezbollah.