BEIRUT: The head of Hezbollah’s international relations department, Ammar Musawi, slammed Thursday what he described as attempts by local political factions to export the Syrian crisis into the north of Lebanon.

Musawi said that such efforts adversely affect the country’s stability.

His statements came in the form of a press release that Hezbollah issued following his meeting with Austrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ursula Fahringer. The meeting saw discussion of local and regional developments, especially the situation in Syria.

Musawi also criticized recent statements by U.S. Senator John McCain, who called for establishing a safe zone for the Free Syrian Army. He described McCain’s statements as “seditious” and said that they constitute a breach of Lebanon’s sovereignty on one hand and serve as an attempt to involve Lebanon in the Syrian crisis on the other hand.

Earlier this month, McCain called for establishing a safe zone for Free Syrian Army rebels.

However, the day after making the statement, the U.S. senator issued a clarification in which he explained that he had not meant that the safe zone should be established in Lebanon.