The Hezbollah militant group criticized Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, accusing it of siding with Lebanon's Western-backed government in its power struggle with the Syrian-allied opposition. The comments came only days after Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal slammed Syria and its Lebanese allies for obstructing an Arab League initiative to help Lebanon elect a new president. Hezbollah rejected Prince Saud's criticism and instead accused Lebanon's anti-Syrian majority of obstructing parliamentary elections for a new president. Lebanon has been without a president since pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud ended his term last November without a successor. "This (Saudi) accusation against the opposition harms the kingdom's role and raises big question marks about its position and role in the Lebanese political crisis," Hezbollah said in a statement.
In rare criticism of Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia, the Shiite Hezbollah said Prince Saud's comments had put the kingdom in "a biased position incapable of playing a positive role in a solution" to Lebanon's deepening political crisis.
Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun also rejected Prince Saud's comments and said he was surprised by "the Saudi position holding the opposition responsible for failure to implement the Arab initiative." He urged "friendly countries not to be a party to the Lebanese conflict."