Beirut: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah criticised a US plan to increase military assistance to Arab countries, accusing Washington of seeking to drown the Middle East in wars.
Nasrallah was referring to a proposed US plan announced earlier this week to sell advanced weaponry worth at least $20 billion (about Dh70.3 billion) to Gulf nations and provide new 10-year military aid packages to Israel and Egypt.
"The United States is bringing billions of dollars worth of arms to ignite wars in this region," Nasrallah said in a speech beamed through giant television screens to hundreds of thousands of supporters in eastern Lebanon's city of Baalbek. "The American administration is working on instigating sectarian strife and civil wars in Palestine, Iraq, the Gulf and ... between the countries of this region."
The increased aid is believed to be part of US plans to strengthen Mideast allies it deems to be moderate, largely as a counterweight to the growing influence of Iran - one of Hezbollah's main backers, along with Syria.
The governments of the Middle East are also wary of Shiite Iran's growing power, and Israel views the country as its principal enemy.
