BEIRUT: Syria enjoys international protection and is immune to military aggression thanks to Russia’s and China’s support, Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad said Monday, adding that Damascus had still many options available in dealing with the crisis in that country.

“The supportive role for Syria – Russia’s and China’s veto at the [U.N.] Security Council – tells the world that it is forbidden for anyone to think of any military action against Syria,” Raad said during a Hezbollah political meeting in the southern town of Nabatieh.

“No aerial sanctions, no buffer zones and no aggression against Syria,” he warned, adding that Syria not only enjoys international protection, but also enjoys immunity provided by the people.

He also said Syrian army and security services enjoyed strong levels of cohesion.

“Why does the West want civil war in Syria?” Raad asked. “Because in the event of war there will no longer be a state.”

Civil war in Syria, Raad added, also means that the Security Council will use any Arab League decision to internationalize the crisis; and Syria aims at preventing internationalization.

He said from Hezbollah’s experience in Syrian affairs, “we believe that the Syrian regime has not yet used the many cards it possesses in the face of this conspiracy.”

Meanwhile, MP Qassem Hashem blasted the Arab League for its stance on Damascus and warned that any negative developments in Syria would impact Lebanon.

The lawmaker from Speaker Nabih Berri’s Development and Liberation parliamentary bloc also took aim at the March 14 coalition, accusing them of involvement in the Syria crisis.

“The decision by Arab foreign ministers on Syria departed completely from Arab norms and traditions and this decision ... came on the basis of American directions and it was an American decision signed in the ink of Arab treachery,” Hashem said, referring to the Arab organizations’ rejection Sunday of a request by Damascus to amend plans for a 500-strong monitoring mission to Syria.

“Any negative development in Syria will have repercussions in Lebanon and it is regrettable that some in the country are still betting on negative changes in Syria in their delusional hopes of returning to power,” Hashem said, in an apparent reference to members in the opposition who have openly backed voices their support to pro-reform demonstrators in Syria facing a crackdown by Damascus.

Hashem added that those holding such hopes were putting Lebanon’s future in danger.

“Syria will overcome its crisis ... and Syria has the right to defend itself,” he said.

The United Nations estimates some 3,500 Syrians, mostly civilians, have been killed since Mid-March in the crackdown by Damascus. Syrian authorities deny targeting civilians, blaming the deaths on “armed gangs.”