Now Lebanon - Syria concerned that airport incident hurt Hezbollah, Al-Hayat reports - September 21, 2010

Al-Hayat newspaper on Tuesday quoted a source as saying that Damascus is very worried about Saturday’s airport incident, adding that it has greatly damaged Hezbollah’s image as well as that of its allies.

Tension between the Future Movement and Hezbollah ran high after armed Hezbollah bodyguards received former General Security chief Jamil as-Sayyed at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport on Saturday without the needed permission from any of the relevant bodies.

Sayyed, who had just returned from France, was summoned by Attorney General Judge Said Mirza for questioning following the former’s September 12 statement, in which he attacked Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

The source also told the daily that “such external concern will put pressure [on Lebanese parties] to foster calm and to adhere to the [Saudi-Syrian] rapprochement.”

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz and President Michel Sleiman held a meeting in Baabda on July 30 in a bid to defuse political tension following Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s speech calling the STL an Israeli project designed to target Hezbollah by stirring up sectarian strife in the country.

-NOW Lebanon