US envoy Thomas Barrack has warned it would be a “very, very, very bad decision” for Hezbollah to join the Israel-Iran war in support of its patron Tehran.
Mr Barrack, who is the US special envoy for Syria and ambassador to Turkey, made the comments during a visit to Beirut to meet senior Lebanese politicians, after he was asked what might happen if Hezbollah intervenes in the regional conflict.
“I can say on behalf of President [Donald] Trump, which he has been very clear in expressing as has Special Envoy [Steve] Witkoff: that would be a very, very, very bad decision,” he said.
Hezbollah, a Lebanese armed group and political party, has so far stayed out of the conflict. A Hezbollah official told The National on Wednesday that the group would stay out of it even if the US joins the air war.
Khamenei threat
On Thursday, Hezbollah condemned threats to the life of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after Mr Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly discussed the possibility of assassinating Iran’s supreme leader.
It said the “mere utterance of such threats” was an insult to the Islamic world. “Such an act is condemned and denounced in the strongest terms,” the group added.
However, its statement gave no suggestion of any change of its position on joining the conflict.
Lebanon is under pressure from the US, as well as domestically, to disarm Hezbollah.
During his meeting with Mr Barrack, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said efforts to bring all weapons under state control were under way in earnest and would intensify when the Israel-Iran war ended.
Once a formidable force and Iran's most powerful proxy, Hezbollah was severely weakened by Israel's war on Lebanon last year.
That conflict saw large sections of the group's weapons arsenal destroyed and most of its senior leadership wiped out.
A tenuous ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel was agreed last November, but Israeli forces have breached it more than 3,000 times.
Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, the Lebanese army is supposed to increase its presence in south Lebanon and ensure Hezbollah's infrastructure is dismantled in the area.
Mr Aoun said that task was being implemented, but added that Israel's continued occupation of five points of Lebanese territory was delaying the process.
Asked if there was a way to end Israel's attacks on south Lebanon, Mr Barrack said: “Well, if I could give you a solution in two minutes, I wouldn't be here.”
An Israeli strike on Kfar Juz, south Lebanon, killed two people on Wednesday, while another strike injured one person in Barish, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
THE DETAILS
Deadpool 2
Dir: David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Justin Dennison, Zazie Beetz
Four stars
The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
RESULT
Uruguay 3 Russia 0
Uruguay: Suárez (10'), Cheryshev (23' og), Cavani (90')
Russia: Smolnikov (Red card: 36')
Man of the match: Diego Godin (Uruguay)
Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
