BEIRUT: The fall of Syria’s Assad regime would not lead to the disarmament of Hezbollah, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Sunday evening.
“Hezbollah considers arms as its key power and will become more committed to it after the regime in Syria falls and will work on enhancing it further,” said Geagea in an interview to Egyptian Capital Broadcast Center (CBC) television channel.
According to Geagea, Syria serves only as a path for Hezbollah to reach its goals and the party will look for other channels when the Assad regime is brought down.
“Syria is no more than a passageway for Hezbollah and the party has currently replaced this channel. However, postponing its project doesn’t necessarily mean giving up on its arms,” said Geagea.
Hezbollah has supported the Assad regime in its fight against rebels ever since the uprising broke out in March 2011.
Media reports have also said the party has sent fighters to Syria, an accusation which Hezbollah has repeatedly denied.
Geagea also said that the March 8 camp is betting on the continuation of the regime in Syria.
“A large number of Lebanese, affiliated with the March 8 team, are in denial and are still hoping for Assad’s victory,” said Geagea.
The LF leader also addressed the influx of Syrian refugees into the country and called on the Arab League to find a solution to the case.
“The Arab League should find a solution to the issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon because their influx surpasses Lebanon’s ability to handle them,” said Geagea.
The latest figures of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees put the official number of Syrian refugees in the country at over 212,000.
Lebanon has appealed for the help of the international and Arab community in the refugees’ file saying that the Lebanese government cannot afford to support the rising number of Syrians coming to the country.
Arab foreign ministers held a meeting in Cairo earlier in January to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis and agreed to send a team to Lebanon to assess the situation of Syrian refugees on the ground.