Date: Mar 26, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Lebanon to overcome Pompeo effect Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star BEIRUT: Lebanon appeared Sunday to have staved off the negative repercussions of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s anti-Hezbollah tirade that had threatened to plunge the country into political turmoil with all the dire consequences this entails on its stability and battered economy. Pompeo wrapped up a two-day visit to Lebanon Saturday, describing it as “very successful.” “Thank you to the Lebanese people for your world-famous hospitality. The U.S. remains committed to working with you to advance Lebanon’s stability, security and prosperity,” Pompeo tweeted before his departure. His first visit to Beirut as secretary of state was part of a regional tour that also took him to Kuwait and Israel and was aimed at ramping up pressure on Iran and Hezbollah, which has for long been labeled a “terrorist organization” by Washington. Pompeo held talks Friday with top Lebanese leaders, highlighting U.S. concerns about Hezbollah’s “destabilizing activities” in Lebanon and the region. “Pompeo carried two messages to Lebanese leaders: One toughening [the U.S.] position toward Iran and the other toughening the [U.S.] policy toward organizations characterized by Washington as terrorist, including Hezbollah,” former Future Movement MP Ammar Houri, a political adviser to Prime Minister Saad Hariri , told The Daily Star Sunday. Asked about the outcome of Pompeo’s meeting with Hariri, Houri said that despite the U.S. hardline position toward Iran and Hezbollah, “Pompeo reaffirmed America’s support for Lebanon and the Lebanese Army.” Asked what Hariri’s response was to the U.S. secretary’s harsh rhetoric against Hezbollah, Houri said: “Prime Minister Hariri told Pompeo he hopes that any measures that the U.S. Administration might take against Hezbollah will not hurt Lebanon or the Lebanese economy.”“Hariri also asked Pompeo for U.S. support for the CEDRE conference and to encourage [donor] states that participated in it to invest in Lebanon,” Houri added. Lebanon has promised to enact key economic and financial reforms that are deemed crucial to unlocking over $11 billion in grants and soft loans pledged by international donors at the CEDRE conference held in Paris last year. While in Beirut, Pompeo launched Washington’s most scathing verbal attack on Hezbollah, by calling on Lebanese officials to curb the party’s influence, saying the Iranian-backed group is a terrorist organization that should not be allowed to set policies or wield power despite its participation in Parliament and government. The top U.S. diplomat also called on the Lebanese to stand up to Hezbollah’s “criminality, terror and threats,” claiming that U.S. sanctions on Iran and the party were paying off that more pressure on them was forthcoming. “Frankly Lebanon and the Lebanese people face a choice: bravely move forward as an independent and proud nation, or allow the dark ambitions of Iran and Hezbollah to dictate your future,” Pompeo said reading a prepared statement at a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil Friday following separate talks with President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Hariri. The U.S. official also held talks with Interior Minister Raya el Hassan, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Progressive Socialist Party head Walid Joumblatt. Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah is set to respond to Pompeo’s diatribe in a televised speech to be broadcast by the party’s Al-Manar TV station at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Nasrallah will touch on “latest political developments in Lebanon and the region,” a statement from Hezbollah’s media office said Sunday. A senior political source said the unity displayed by Lebanese leaders against Pompeo’s call to take measures to rein in Hezbollah had spared the country further political turmoil. “Lebanon has displayed unprecedented national unity by refusing to be dragged into a strife scheme which Pompeo tried to promote when he called on a section of the Lebanese to stand up against another,” the source told The Daily Star. “The declared objectives of Pompeo’s visit to isolate and confront Hezbollah have not been achieved, thanks to the unified Lebanese position,” the source said. In the face of Pompeo’s anti-Hezbollah tirade, Aoun, Berri and Bassil stressed to the U.S. secretary that the party was an essential political component in Lebanon that enjoyed wide popular support. “Hezbollah is a Lebanese party emanating from a popular base that represents one of the country’s main sects,” Aoun told Pompeo during their meeting at Baabda Palace. Asked about fears that the U.S. might impose new sanctions on Hezbollah and even on Lebanon if measures were not taken to curb the party’s role in Lebanese politics, the political source said: “The unity and cohesion of the Lebanese are capable of overcoming any sanctions that might be imposed by the U.S. Administration on Lebanon.” In its first reaction to Pompeo’s escalatory tone, Iran vowed to cement ties with Lebanon despite the “provocative and interventionist” call by the U.S. secretary for Beirut to choose sides. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi dismissed Pompeo’s remarks. “Because of the failure of its policies in the Middle East, America has turned to the outdated and disgraced weapon of threats and intimidation to impose its imperious policies on other countries,” Qasemi said, Iranian state television reported. “While respecting the independence of Lebanon and the free will of its government and nation, Iran will use all its capacities to strengthen unity inside Lebanon and also to expand its ties with Lebanon.” On his final day Saturday, Pompeo and his wife Susan toured historical churches and a centuries-old citadel in the northern coastal city of Jbeil. In the afternoon, Pompeo met with Beirut Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audi at the headquarters of the Archdiocese in Ashrafieh along with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard. Pompeo emphasized during a separate meeting with Army Commander Joseph Aoun that the U.S. supported the Army as a “strategic partner in combating terrorism,” according to an Army statement. Before flying home, Pompeo said the U.S. was prepared to use all the “peaceful tools” available, including imposing more sanctions, to curb Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon. In response to a question about whether Washington was considering expanding sanctions to include “Lebanese political figures close to Hezbollah,” Pompeo told MTV news channel that while “I never get ahead of the president with respect to who or what entities we might designate or which tools we might use,” the U.S. was “prepared to use all peaceful tools” it has. “And we’ll work alongside our Lebanese partners to ensure that we get the right outcomes. If that involves sanctioning particular individuals, we’re prepared to do that,” he said. Meanwhile, Aoun is set to begin a two-day official visit to Moscow Monday at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Aoun’s talks with Putin and other Russian officials will focus on expanding bilateral relations, the Syrian refugee crisis and the stalled Russian initiative aiming to secure the return of displaced Syrians in Lebanon to their country, an official source had told The Daily Star. The source added that the offshore oil and gas issue would be discussed during the meeting with Putin.