Tue 19 November 2019:
Former Secretary-General of Lebanon’s Shia Hezbollah movement, a key ally of Iran, criticised Iran’s supreme leader Sunday for being behind corruption in Lebanon and Iraq, where anti-government and corruption protests are ongoing.
Subhi al-Tufayli, speaking to Arab and social media, delivered remarks on recent mass protests held in Lebanon and Iraq.
Al-Tufayli said at least 250 people were killed and more than 11,000 were injured in Iraq, according to official figures and alleged the deaths were caused by the men of Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran.
He went on to say that the peaceful demonstrators in Lebanon were attacked by supporters of Hezbollah and Amal Movement, and claimed the aggressors were affiliated with the Iranian supreme leader. He alleged that Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon have been responsible for injustice and looting in Lebanon since 1972, and that Khamenei spent money to buy media outlets in his favour during the Syrian civil war.
In 1988, Al-Tufayli, one of the founding members of Hezbollah, who is a religious scholar, survived an assassination attempt, which is suspected to have been conducted by Israel and the US
Hezbollah and he diverged paths after the former took part in 1992 general elections of Lebanon.
Already facing the worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war, Lebanon has been pitched deeper into turmoil since October 17 by a wave of rallies against the ruling elite that led Saad al-Hariri to resign as prime minister on October 29.
In Iraq, mass protests began at Tahrir Square in Baghdad on October 1 as demonstrators demanded jobs and services, and have swelled in the capital and southern cities with calls for an overhaul of the sectarian political system. It is the biggest and most complex challenge in years to the political order set up after a US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
-MEMO
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