Sayyed Nasrallah stresses full support to army; Opposition will eventually triumph

Al-Manar special report
16/02/2007

"Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah made a speech during the annual commemoration of the martyrdom of former Secretary General Sayyed Abbas Mussawi and Shiekh Ragheb Harb. His eminence said that Israel was defeated in Lebanon in the first war launched by the Zionist entity against an Arab country in collusion with some Arab countries, and the first such war on an Arab country whose people were abandoned, but despite that they triumphed.

Sayyed Nasrallah addresses martyr Sayyed Abbas and martyr Sheikh Harb saying that the resistance has preserved their will and it has survived and triumphed. He said Hezbollah will not forgive Lebanese authorities for seizing resistance weapons.

"We will not forgive anyone who confiscates a bullet from the arms of the resistance. We are ready to provide the army with all the weapons that it requires but with our consent, but we will not forgive anyone who confiscates a bullet," he said.

Sayyed Nasrallah said "we have plenty of weapons, of all kinds ... and we have the right to transport our arms to combat Israel, even if we transport them in secret to hide them from the Israeli enemy.

When we won the war against Israel, we were not fighting with wooden swords, but we were launching rockets and missiles at the enemy." "The Resistance will always stand by the Lebanese army, with our weapons, men and blood to defend Lebanon, and no will succeed in causing a rift between the resistance and the army" he said. "Resistance fighters in Maroun el-Ras were ready to interfere to support the Lebanese army in case of any further development, our blood and our youth will stand by the army," he said.

His eminence touched on the internal situation and said that every time progress is made to settle the crisis, new files are opened to cause further obstruction to the process.

"We, in the opposition, have had many clear proposals and we have been committed to the red lines which we have set for ourselves while others are ringing the bell of civil war, so this is a battle of public opinion. Let the people decide who really wants to take the country towards civil war and who benefits from this war," Sayyed Hasan said. The Secretary General stressed the opposition does not want to take the country into civil war. "When we were shot at on Tuesday and Thursday, we reacted with wisdom and patience." Sayyed Nasrallah commented on the speeches made during the annual commemoration of the assassination of former Prime Minister martyr Rafik Hariri.

"We have witnessed a couple of days ago the level of speech which evokes fear and worry. Does this language of insults and slander put an end to the crisis in this country," his eminence said.

Sayyed Nasrallah said that there are some in this country who are causing problems for Lebanon for personal ends. "There are some who are sacrificing this country for their personal interests, not for their party and not for anything else," He added.

Sayyed Nasrallah insisted that he will not be a part in any bilateral meeting nor will he negotiate, not because he does not want to, but because Hezbollah trusts its allies in the national opposition.

"They are insisting that the opposition is led by Hezbollah and they are trying to establish this equation, but this is not true. Let them negotiate with any leadership in the opposition and be sure that they represent us as much as they represent themselves."

Sayyed Hassan said that the problem is that there are foreign sides which do not want a solution in Lebanon, "and unfortunately there are internal sides who don't want this as well," his eminence added. He stressed the opposition will not despair and it still have a wide margin to move to achieve its goal of forming a national unity government and hold early elections. "As I have said before, you cannot rule this country alone. The opposition never said it is seeking to eliminate you from the country's political map, but it said that it wants a partnership."

Sayyed Nasrallah highlighted the issue of what has been known in Lebanon as the "predictions of some politicians".

"There are some who are predicting military action against the UNIFIL in south Lebanon, and in fact they are preparing for such attacks to point the finger at Hezbollah. There are some politicians who are trying to create tension between the resistance and the UNIFIL. We don't have a problem with the UN forces and we don't oppose their presence. We are in contact with the countries taking part in the UN forces and they are positively considering with our remarks. We have to work through diplomatic channels to prevent any problem to develop between the UNIFIL and the southerners," his eminence said.

Hezbollah's Secretary General concluded: "In the memory of our two dear leaders, we stress our commitment to the resistance to protect this country. Every iota of blood constitutes a drop of blood from a martyr. Hezbollah is capable of being everywhere, in the south and in Beirut, to struggle for rightness in every field. Hezbollah and its allies are capable today of saving our country and we will not despair. What is going now is a continuation of the Israeli summer war against Lebanon. They have stood since the first of November because of the foreign support, but such support cannot keep the ruling bloc in place forever. As I promised you earlier, I renew my promise that the opposition will achieve its goal and it will triumph." "