Policy follows Damascus bomb which left 17 dead; Lebanese opposition: 'Syria no longer a safe haven.'
By JPOST.COM STAFFImad Mughniyeh good 248(photo credit: AP)
Hizbullah has ordered its members to refrain from visiting Syria until further notice, a Web site belonging to the Lebanese opposition wrote on Wednesday.
The organization was responding to bombing Saturday in Damascus that left 17 people dead. Many Hizbullah members, including senior officials, were recalled to Lebanon after that attack.
The Web site also said that since top Hizbullah operative Imad Mughniyeh's assassination in Damascus in February, the organization's members were warned to take extra precautions while visiting the Syrian capital, and that the call to avoid the city completely was issued following the recent bombing.
"Hizbullah considered Syria a safe haven for its people where they didn't have to take serious precautions [but] now it has become dangerous," the statement read.
Hizbullah's concern stemmed from a suspicion that extreme Islamic organizations planned to harm its members.
Moreover, Hizbullah was not alone in its instructions to avoid the capital. Hamas, said the Web site, is also adopting a renewed policy of caution.
According to the statement, Syria's security was threatened on two fronts. The first were populated areas within the country that pose a target to terror organizations arriving from overseas. The second, said the website, rested in the defense echelon itself, which, according to the statement, was influenced by foreign defense factors.
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