Lebanese Prime Minister Calls Hezbollah's Presence in Syria 'Big Mistake'

Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Tuesday that he strongly disapproved the fact that the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah is participating in the war in Syria and called it a huge mistake.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Tuesday, Hariri held talks with US President Donald Trump. At the meeting they touched upon the issue of Hezbollah, which is considered a terrorist group in the United States.

"I strongly disagree with Hezbollah going to Syria. I think it is one of the biggest mistakes, that they have made. I said it to them directly," Hariri told journalists.

He noted that the Lebanese authorities understood why the United States considered the organization as "inappropriate."

Earlier in the day, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said that that Lebanese Hezbollah movement was growing stronger and putting the people of Lebanon to great danger. She also noted that Hezbollah was sending its militants from its Lebanese headquarters to Syria.

Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Syrian army are battling militants from the Al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist group (banned in Russia), previously known as the Nusra Front, on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal, near the country's border with Syria. The Lebanese Army is not directly engaged in the conflict, though it has set up defensive positions around the area where the battles are raging.