Beirut: The leader of Lebanese group Hezbollah described the radical Islamist movement that has seized territory in Iraq and Syria as a growing “monster” that could threaten Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf states.
Hassan Nasrallah, whose group has been helping Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad fight a Islamist-dominated insurgency, said Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) could easily recruit in other areas where its hardline ideology exists.
“Wherever there are followers of the ideology there is ground for [Isil], and this exists in Jordan, in Saudi Arabia, in Kuwait, and the Gulf states,” Nasrallah said in an interview with the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar published on Friday.
Nasrallah said Isil was encountering resistance in some parts of Iraq and Syria. But he added: “It appears that the capabilities, numbers and capacities available to [Isil] are vast and large. This is what is worrying everyone, and everyone should be worried.” Saudi Arabia has shown growing signs of alarm about the spread of Isil. Last month, it deployed 30,000 soldiers at its border with Iraq.
Saudi Arabia has also been a major sponsor of the anti-Al Assad uprising.
“This danger does not recognise Shiites, Sunnis, Muslims, Christians or Druze or Yazidis or Arabs or Kurds. This monster is growing and getting bigger,” said Nasrallah.
Nasrallah reiterated his defence of Hezbollah’s role in the Syrian conflict, the focus of criticism from Lebanese opponents who say the group has provoked Sunni militant attacks in Lebanon.
