Nasrallah says Hezbollah will keep fighting in Syria
Fiery leader of Beirut-based Shiite paramilitary movement insists forces will keep fighting in support of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed on Thursday to keep his forces in Syria where they are fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, in a rare public speech delivered in Beirut.
Nasrallah, who normally appears via video link for fear of assassination by arch enemy Israel, spoke in Hezbollah’s southern Beirut stronghold to mark the Ashura rituals.
“We have said on several occasions that the presence of our soldiers on Syrian soil is to defend ... Syria, which supports the resistance” against Israel, said the Lebanese Shiite leader.
“Our presence there is justified,” he told hundreds of thousands marking a Shiite commemoration.
“Those who speak of our withdrawal from Syria as a condition to form a government in Lebanon know that it is an impossible condition,” said Nasrallah.
“We won’t negotiate on the existence of Syria [in exchange for] a handful of ministries.”