 A group of Lebanese political dissenters, including MP Walid Jumblatt criticized on Thursday the role of Hizbullah and Syria in the recent escalation in Israeli-Lebanese tension. Speaking live on Lebanese television a Lebanese parliament member raised the question of whether the driving force behind the kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers on Wednesday was not actually a Syrian initiative. He admitted that release of prisoners was a Lebanese demand, but asked whether the military move on Wednesday was for the sake of releasing prisoners or in response to the IAF flyover above [Syrian President Bashar] Assad's palace [two weeks ago]." He suggested that Assad may also have been trying to evade the conclusions of a United Nations' probe investigating Syria's role in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Harir. The dissenters asserted their consternation at one organization - Hizbullah - controlling all of the occurrences in Lebanon, Channel 2 reported. |