Hariri, who hails from the country’s leading Sunni political party, reportedly had cautioned against Hezbollah holding the Health Ministry amid concerns his new government could face Western sanctions. Billingslea was quoted in the English-language Daily Star newspaper on Friday as saying the U.S. would have a problem with Hezbollah exploiting any government ministry to support Hezbollah institutions. The new health minister, Jamil Jabbak, is not a member of Hezbollah but is believed to be close to the group’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and was his personal physician at one point. The 30-seat government has seen an increase in the number of ministries affiliated with Hezbollah, which is under tightened sanctions from the U.S. “And as a result of that, we are actually seeing that Hezbollah here is not getting the paychecks they once enjoyed from the Iranians.”Hariri and Hezbollah are political rivals.

Source: Washington Post February 01, 2019 10:15 UTC