Hezbollah chief says Syria regime's outside danger

Beirut - (AFP) - Syria's regime has no more threats of being overthrown. The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah said in remarks published today that the country is no longer risking division.

Hassan Nasrallah's team is fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

He told the newspaper in an interview: "In my opinion, the phase of bringing down the regime or bringing down the state is over. I think we have passed the danger of division" of the country. "They cannot overthrow the regime, but they can wage a war of attrition".

He believed supporters of the uprising were tempering their expectations for an opposition defeat of the regime. "The regional and international situation has changed". "In my view, the pressure on the regime in the coming phase will be less than in the past three years, in terms of political pressure, media pressure and pressure on the ground", he added.

The Latakia front "is a limited operation... but it created a big fuss in the media," he said. "For all the talk about the big battle to come, we've seen nothing of it so far", he added.

Hezbollah's involvement in Syria's conflict has raised tensions in Lebanon, where many Sunnis support the uprising and others fear the group's role will bring the fighting into their country.

"There is a large public feeling that supports the step of Hezbollah's intervention in Syria", Hassan Nasrallah also said.

"Many Lebanese, even inside March 14, believe and accept that the intervention in Syria protects Lebanon from the terrorist groups whose behaviour and actions we see on a daily basis", he added.

"So we do not feel alienated", he said, adding that many political and religious forces in the country had expressed their support "behind closed doors, which increases our confidence in this position".