| AMERICAN LEBANESE COORDINATION COUNCIL |
February 15, 2006
Hezbollah chief says disarmament linked to peace
BEIRUT - The head of Lebanon's fundamentalist Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah has insisted that the disarmament of its military
wing must be linked to a broad peace deal in the Middle East.
"Lebanon is in a state of war with Israel and there will be no handover of weapons until there is an end to that," Sheikh Hassan
Nasrallah said on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television.
"As long as there is no regional solution, that means that a state of war continues, even if there is no fighting at the front," he said,
making no mention of regular clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli troops in the Israel-held Shebaa Farms.
Israel captured the Shebaa Farms from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war, and are now claimed by Lebanon with Damascus'
backing. Hezbollah, which spearheaded the guerrilla campaign that drove Israel out of southern Lebanon six years ago, continues to
harrass Israeli troops occupying the small mountainous territory.
Nasrallah was participating in a program to commemorate the assassination a year ago of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri,
who he claimed shared his views on the disarmanent of Hezbollah.
"Based on our discussions, his opinion was that the question of the resistance's arms is linked to the compromise, and not to the
Shebaa Farms and to Lebanese being held in Israel." "Compromise" is the word used to refer to a region-wide peace deal.
Lebanon's largely anti-Damascus government, which took power after elections last year following the withdrawal of Syrian forces, is
under international pressure over the disarming of Hezbollah.
UN Security Council resolution 1559, which was adopted in September 2004 and called for the Syrian pullout, also seeks the
disarmament of militias in Lebanon.
Hezbollah, the only armed group not required to lay down its weapons after the 1975-1990 civil war in Lebanon because it was
spearheading the fight against Israel, is considered a terrorist organisation by Washington.
Copyright 2005 AFP. All rights reserved.
Hezbollah chief says disarmament linked to peace
BEIRUT - The head of Lebanon's fundamentalist Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah has insisted that the disarmament of its military
wing must be linked to a broad peace deal in the Middle East.
"Lebanon is in a state of war with Israel and there will be no handover of weapons until there is an end to that," Sheikh Hassan
Nasrallah said on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television.
"As long as there is no regional solution, that means that a state of war continues, even if there is no fighting at the front," he said,
making no mention of regular clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli troops in the Israel-held Shebaa Farms.
Israel captured the Shebaa Farms from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war, and are now claimed by Lebanon with Damascus'
backing. Hezbollah, which spearheaded the guerrilla campaign that drove Israel out of southern Lebanon six years ago, continues to
harrass Israeli troops occupying the small mountainous territory.
Nasrallah was participating in a program to commemorate the assassination a year ago of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri,
who he claimed shared his views on the disarmanent of Hezbollah.
"Based on our discussions, his opinion was that the question of the resistance's arms is linked to the compromise, and not to the
Shebaa Farms and to Lebanese being held in Israel." "Compromise" is the word used to refer to a region-wide peace deal.
Lebanon's largely anti-Damascus government, which took power after elections last year following the withdrawal of Syrian forces, is
under international pressure over the disarming of Hezbollah.
UN Security Council resolution 1559, which was adopted in September 2004 and called for the Syrian pullout, also seeks the
disarmament of militias in Lebanon.
Hezbollah, the only armed group not required to lay down its weapons after the 1975-1990 civil war in Lebanon because it was
spearheading the fight against Israel, is considered a terrorist organisation by Washington.
Copyright 2005 AFP. All rights reserved.
