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Aug 26, 2022
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Syrian Opposition Figure Asaad Al-Zoubi: Hizbullah Refuses to Return Chemical WMDs, Missiles, Tanks, and Weapons Given to It by the Syrian Regime

#9792 | 01:55
Source: Al-Arabiya Network (Dubai/Saudi Arabia)

Syrian opposition figure Asaad Al-Zoubi said in an August 26, 2022 interview on Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia) that Hizbullah refuses to return weapons given to it by the Syrian regime. He said that the Syrian regime transferred chemical WMDs to Lebanon, in order to hide them from foreign inspectors, but Hizbullah will not return them to Syria. In addition, Al-Zoubi added that Hizbullah received shoulder-fired-missiles and anti-tank missiles as well as modern tanks and has no intention of ever returning them, despite demands from the Syrian regime, which needs them desperately. For more information about Al-Zoubi, who had defected from the Syrian air force during the civil war, see MEMRI TV Clip No 3567.

Asaad Al-Zoubi: "[Hizbullah] says that they returned ten T-55 or T-52 tanks [to Syria]. These tanks were scrapped, even in all the countries that delt with the former Soviet Union.

"But Hizbullah kept all the modern weapons that it took [from the Syrian army], including shoulder-fired missiles – and among those modern anti-tank missiles – and most importantly, 400 tons of chemical WMDs. When inspectors came to Syria to search [for chemical weapons], the [Syrian] regime transferred 400 tons [of chemical weapons] to a region in Jabal Sannin [in Lebanon], to hide [the chemical weapons] with Hizbullah.

"Today, Hizbullah is refusing to return [the chemical weapons] to the [Syrian] regime. Furthermore, 11 sites were established for Hizbullah in the Western Qalamoun region [in Syria]. I even sent a map to the OPCQ so that they know that these sites belong to Hizbullah, and that sarin gas is produced there.

[...]

"The [Syrian] regime is demanding that the weapons be returned because it has nothing left. The regime used to have about 4,500 tanks. Today it has no more than 1,500. Today, the regime has no weapons, and no soldiers. It receives help from Iranian militias, as soldiers. But what about weapons? Weapons are costly. It is well known that countries no longer sell T-55 tanks for 10,000 dollars, now there are T-72s and T-90s, and so [the Syrian regime] needs any weapon that it can get, especially the weapons that Hizbullah took from the Republican Guard and the 4th Division, because they have the most modern weapons in Syria. These weapons were given to Hizbullah on condition that they would be returned to Syria. However, Hizbullah did not give them back and it never will."

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