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Hezbollah torn between local, regional roles

In light of the raging regional crises, Hezbollah has been intervening outside Lebanon's border in support of its foreign allies in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, raising controversy inside the country about the movement’s local and regional influence.
Lebanese Hezbollah supporters carry flags and gesture during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RTSRWNQ

On Jan. 17, the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, Hezbollah's political wing in the Lebanese parliament, held its regular meeting and said in a statement that the meeting was mostly dedicated to discussing the national draft laws, in particular the electoral law.

However, the most remarkable thing about the bloc’s statement was its position on four regional issues, in addition to the local matter of the draft laws: offering condolences for the death of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani; condemning Bahraini authorities for executing three young men and renewing support for the Bahraini Shiite uprising; condemning the silence of international human rights organizations over the rebels in Wadi Barada near Damascus cutting drinking water to millions of Syrians; and condemning the US-Saudi aggression against the Yemeni people.

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