Hezbollah says US ship is threat

The USS Cole was attacked by al-Qaeda in 2000

A Hezbollah MP has condemned the deployment of the USS Cole warship off the coast of Lebanon as a threat to Lebanese sovereignty and independence.

The US is sending one warship and a support ship to the eastern Mediterranean as a show of support for "regional stability".

The deployment is seen as a warning to Syria, which backs the opposition, of which Hezbollah is part.

But MP Hassan Fadlallah said the movement would not give in to threats.

He told reporters: "It is clear this threat and intimidation will not affect us."

We don't succumb to threats and military intimidation practised by the United States to implement its hegemony over Lebanon Hassan Fadlallah

"The American move threatens the stability of Lebanon and the region and it is an attempt to spark tension," he told Reuters news agency.

"The American administration has used the policy of sending warships to support its allies in Lebanon before, and that experiment failed and backfired.

"We don't succumb to threats and military intimidation practised by the United States to implement its hegemony over Lebanon." BBC