Hezbollah leader: reforms needed in Syria

The leader of Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah said Friday that key reforms were needed for the development of Syria, Lebanon's biggest neighbor. "We want and support big and significant reforms in Syria so that it becomes more developed as a result of its key role in the region," Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah told a big crowd in Lebanon's southern border village of Maroun al-Ras in a televised speech to mark the Al-Quds Day. The Al-Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day in Arabic, is marked on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan in some Islamic countries. Nasrallah, who spoke meters away from Lebanon's border with Israel, said Syria's role in espousing "big national causes", such as the Palestinian cause and the Lebanese resistance against Israeli occupation, ought to be saluted. The head of Hezbollah also warned against sectarian strife erupting in Syria. The black-turbaned sheikh said the liberation of southern Lebanon from Israeli occupation in 2000 would not have been possible without the support of Syria. He added that any negative developments in Syria, which has been in unrest since mid-March, will affect the whole region. "Lebanon will not be in isolation from what is happening in Syria... Negative or positive developments in Syria will affect the whole region," Nasrallah said.