Gauging Hezbollah's role in Syria

Saying it has "real friends in the region", Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of the Lebanese-Shia group Hezbollah, has promised not to let the government of neighbouring Syria fall.

Nasrallah's televised address on Wednesday angered the Syrian opposition who have accused his group of supplying assistance to the forces of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president.

In his speech, which came after two bomb attacks in the Syrian capital, Nasrallah called the armed opposition too weak to succeed in its two-year-long fight against Assad.

In an already volatile region, what does the admission of Hezbollah - Lebanon's most powerful political and military organisation - assistance to Assad's forces mean for the neighbouring nations?

As the conflict in Syria rages past its second year, how important is Hezbollah's involvement?

Joining Stephen Cole on this Inside Story, to discuss the report are guests: Kamel Waznee, founder and director of the Centre for American Strategic Studies in Beirut; Louay Safee, from the political office of the Syrian National Coalition; and Nicholas Noe, Mid-EastWire.com founder.