ROME (AP) -- Hezbollah has created a "state within a state" in Lebanon and must be disarmed, an Italian daily on Thursday reported Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora as saying, but his office later said the premier had been misquoted.
| I thought that was a bit strong for him |
Saniora reportedly told Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera that the Shiite militia has been doing the bidding of Syria and Iran, and that it could only be disarmed with the help of the international community and once a cease-fire had been achieved in the current Middle East fighting. "Hezbollah has become a state within a state. We know it well," Saniora was quoted as saying, for the first time leveling such an accusation against guerrillas that effectively control southern Lebanon. "It's not a mystery that Hezbollah answers to the political agendas of Tehran and Damascus," Saniora was quoted as saying. "The entire world must help us disarm Hezbollah. But first we need to reach a cease-fire."
Later Thursday, Saniora's office said the prime minister had been misquoted, adding that his words had been translated from English into Italian and that Corriere's journalist had chosen sentences that were not connected and did not report the literal meaning of what he had said. | Guess Hezbollah must have gotten in touch with him |
According to the statement, the premier had said that international help was needed to persuade Israel to withdraw from the Chebaa Farms, a disputed territory that Lebanon claims and Hezbollah uses as a pretext for attacking Israeli forces.
"What the prime minister said was that the international community has not given the Lebanese government the chance to deal with the problem of Hezbollah weapons, since the continued presence of Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands in the Chebaa Farms region is what contributes to the presence of Hezbollah weapons," the statement said. "The international community must help us in (getting) an Israeli withdrawal from Chebaa Farms so we can solve the problem of Hezbollah's arms." | "It's all the Jooos fault! Ok, please take that gun away from my head." |
No one was immediately available at the newspaper to respond. |