Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Nasrallah: Bush made Lebanon chaos


"Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, has accused George Bush of creating chaos in Lebanon, and rejected the US president's latest criticisms of the Shia group.

Speaking at Beirut ceremonies marking the climax of the Muslim festival of Ashura, Nasrallah accused the US of ordering Israel to launch last year's attack on Lebanon.

"The one who fomented chaos in Lebanon, who destroyed Lebanon, who killed women and children, old and young in Lebanon, is George Bush and (Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice who ordered the Zionists to launch the war on Lebanon," Nasrallah said.

The US president on Monday accused Hezbollah and its allies Iran and Syria of stirring up the latest violence in Lebanon in a bid to topple its government and said "those responsible for creating chaos must be called to account".

Nasrallah said: "The one who must be punished, who must be tried, is the one who ordered the launching of war on Lebanon."

The July-August war killed nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

"George Bush wants to punish you because you resisted, he wants to punish you because you won," Nasrallah said.

He made his address to thousands of Shia muslims who converged on Beirut's southern suburbs to commemorate the killing in battle of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Mohammad's grandson, in AD 680.

Earlier, the crowd marched in Hezbollah's Beirut stronghold, rhythmically beating their chests in a sign of grief over Hussein's martyrdom and chanting "Death to America, death to Israel".

Some carried red, yellow and black flags with religious slogans. Others wore green headbands and chanted, "We will never be humiliated."

"George Bush knows ... and we reiterate to him and the whole world should hear that we are a nation that doesn't succumb and can't be humiliated, " Nasrallah said....."

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