Hizbullah has enough arms to defend country, Nasrallah aide scoffs at border supervision

Source: Daily Star, 17-4-2007
BEIRUT: A top political adviser to Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Monday that the resistance group "firmly opposes the supervision of the Syrian-Lebanese border," adding that in any case such monitoring would not leave the resistance "short of weapons."
"Hizbullah has enough weapons to defend Lebanon against ‘Israeli' aggression, even if borders with Syria are completely closed" Hussein Khalil said in comments carried by London based Ash-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper.
Khalil added that his group will "never" make use of its weapons in a civil war in Lebanon "simply because Hizbullah firmly opposes it."
The comments followed an interview last Wednesday in which Hizbullah`s number two, Sheikh Naim Qassem, Britain`s Guardian newspaper that his organization had taken into consideration all possible scenarios, "including the possibility of having ‘Israel' launch yet another war against us upon US orders."
Khalil said that the supervision of the Syrian-Lebanese border "or any similar procedure" would not alter Hizbullah`s intentions "of defending our country, land, and people."
During the interview, Khalil also emphasized that Hizbullah was willing to lay down its arms if a majority of Lebanon`s citizens were to demand the group do so via a direct referendum, "similar to the one the Sayyed mentioned in his last speech."
Khalil was referring to an address Nasrallah gave on April 8.
He said that Nasrallah was "willing to conduct a referendum about practically anything ... including Hizbullah`s political intentions."
Khalil said that "two opposing mentalities and cultures" were currently at work in the management of Lebanese issues. He said that the ruling majority "should put an end to its attempts to impose foreign hegemony over Lebanon."
"The four-month-long political deadlock will not come to an end if the ruling forces still rely on foreign forces to have their positions strengthened," he said, dating the genesis of the stalemate to the start of the opposition sit-in in Downtown Beirut on December 1.
Nasrallah`s adviser said that the only solution to the crisis was to conduct early parliamentary elections according to a "fair and agreed-upon" electoral law.
Khalil warned that if the stalemate persists "the Lebanese will end up with two presidents ... or even three presidents and three governments."
"Will national unity and the international tribunal still matter if the country is divided into three separate compartments?" he asked.
Khalil said that all attempts to establish an international court to try suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter "will fail." Chapter 7 status would mean that the court could go forward without Parliament`s vote of approval.
"By having the tribunal ratified under Chapter 7, the ruling majority are overlooking the opinion of a large section of the Lebanese," Khalil said.
"However," he added, "the supporters of such a plan will sooner or later find themselves grossly mistaken because the plan itself, in addition to all its advocates ... will be faced with failure."