UN envoy warns that Hezbollah expansion can threaten Lebanon

Hezbollah’s involvement in the conflicts in Syria and more recently Iraq risks a spillover of sectarian tensions into Lebanon where the ISIS and other extremist groups are reported to be expanding, a U.N. envoy warned Friday.

Terje Roed-Larsen expressed serious concern that not only have Hezbollah and other militias continued their activities since the Security Council ordered them to disband in 2004 "but if anything they have expanded." He also expressed concern at the reported expansion of extremist groups, mostly in Palestinian refugee camps.

He called for the urgent disbanding of all militias in his final briefing to the council before stepping down on May 31 after 12 years, saying "their growing capabilities ... represent a major and dangerous threat to Lebanon’s sovereignty, stability and political independence."

The Associated Press obtained the text of his closed briefing to the Security Council.

Lebanon has a national unity government that includes Hezbollah, which has two Cabinet seats. But Hezbollah also has an armed wing that is stronger than the Lebanese national army and is considered a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, and recently the Arab League and Gulf Cooperation Council.

The deployment of Hezbollah in Syria, backing Assad, has widened the militant Shiite group’s circle of enemies to include Sunni extremists and conservative Gulf monarchies, Associate Press reported.