Hizballah's reported involvement in Syria, Bulgaria and Bahrain threatens to destabilize Lebanon, says former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel.
Bulgarian officials implicated Hizballah last week in a July 2012 bus bombing in Bulgaria that killed several Israeli tourists. The bombing prompted Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov to call on the European Union (EU), which has yet to formally declare Hizballah to be a terrorist group, to take collective action against the organization.
If the EU were to blacklist Hizballah it could harm the group's financing.
Its support of Bashar Assad's regime in Syria has also prompted Syrian rebels to threaten strikes against Hizballah targets inside Lebanon Tuesday. The Free Syrian Army's threat to bring the fighting to Lebanon followed several days of clashes with Hizballah militants around the Syrian town of Qusayr and other villages near the Lebanese border. Three Hizballah members were reported killed in the clashes with Syrian rebels over the weekend.
Hizballah was also implicated by Bahraini authorities in November in several bombings that killed two people in Bahrain's capital Manama.
"Hezbollah's practices harm Lebanon's interests and stability, especially the meddling in Bahrain, Syria and Bulgaria's affairs," Gemayel said in a report in Lebanon's Daily Star. He served a Lebanon's president at the height of the Lebanese Civil War during the 1980s and now heads the Kataeb Party. "Hezbollah should be conscious that its meddling in foreign countries' affairs will result in negative repercussions for the whole country."
The terrorist group has not admitted its involvement in Syria and Bulgaria.
Hizballah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah declined to comment on the Bulgarian accusation.
"Hours after the Bulgarian attack took place [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu immediately accused Hezbollah," Nasrallah said.
Nasrallah, however, threatened to plunge Israel "into darkness" if it attacks Lebanon.
"The resistance will not be silent regarding any aggression against Lebanon," Nasrallah said, claiming that Hezbollah had the capability to strike at Israel's "ports, airports and power stations."
"A few missiles would plunge Israel into darkness," Nasrallah said, referring to plans to attack Israeli power stations. "Can Israel survive six months in the dark?"