Qassem denounces Roed-Larsen`s report as serving US & Zionist interests

Source: Daily Star, 28-4-2006
\r\nBEIRUT: According to Sheikh Naim Qassem, "UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen is serving as a U.S. high commissioner looking after American and Zionist interests in the area." During an interview with The Daily Star Thursday, Hizbullah`s second in command said Roed-Larsen`s recent report on the implementation of Resolution 1559 lacked objectivity and aimed at implementing the U.S. and "Israeli" agenda in the Middle East.
\r\nThe resolution calls for, among other things, Hizbullah`s disarmament.
\r\n"He [Roed-Larsen] is trying very hard to be part of the pressure imposed on Hizbullah and its allies, and his report was written especially to pressure, Hizbullah, Syria and Iran," the cleric said.
\r\nHe added that a quick read of the envoy`s report shows that his work is biased.
\r\n"Reading the report, one only finds one paragraph on "Israeli" violations of Lebanon, while we see tens of paragraphs talking about Hizbullah and Syria and all the parties opposing "Israel"," he said.
\r\nThe envoy`s decision to include comments on Iran`s role in Lebanon, Qassem added, came as a result of recent U.S. attempts to pressure the Islamic Republic on a number of issues, including Tehran`s nuclear ambitions.
\r\n"It is a very obvious game they are trying to play," he said.
\r\nFor the first time since 1559 was issued in September 2004, Roed-Larsen officially suggested Iranian involvement in Lebanon, which U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton is using to pressure for a new resolution condemning this role.
\r\nThe UN envoy briefed the Security Council on his report on Wednesday.
\r\nAsked whether a lack of cooperation by Hizbullah in implementing 1559 would put Lebanon in confrontation with the UN, Qassem said the resistance was not concerned with reassuring the international community.
\r\n"UN Resolution 1559 is an unjust "Israeli" decision. We should not view this resolution as sacred, and thus implement it in fear of international pressure," he said. "Lebanon has rights and occupied land that we want to liberate, whether the international community and the Security Council like it or not."
\r\nQassem also said that some Lebanese parties, "who are holding on to this resolution in order to disarm the resistance," should reconsider their position.
\r\n"This will not serve the country`s best interests, as it would lead to depriving Lebanon of the means to protect itself in the face of "Israeli" aggression," he said.
\r\n"We want to make sure that we don`t clash with the international community, but we also won`t accept that, under this title, they impose their conditions on us," he added.
\r\nConcerning the idea that resistance fighters be merged into the Lebanese Army, a suggestion which has yet to be discussed in the country`s national dialogue, Qassem said the suggestion had initially been introduced by Roed-Larsen in the framework of a plan aimed at "serving "Israel"."
\r\n"Through this suggestion, Roed-Larsen wants to make sure the resistance follows military orders from the Army Command, which in turn follows orders from the political authorities, which ultimately could be pressured by the U.S. and the international community," Qassem said. "We reject this notion because it aims at effectively ending the resistance`s role."
\r\nThe cleric said the resistance`s advantage over a far superior "Israeli" Army was that it enjoys a wide margin of maneuver.
\r\n"Suggesting that we should merge the resistance with the army before we discuss this option at the dialogue table would hinder the dialogue," he added.
\r\nQassem also dismissed Prime Minister Fouad Saniora`s recent visit to the U.S. for failing to provide any "real help" for Lebanon.
\r\n"It was not an effective or successful visit. It was more of a protocol visit," he said. "The Americans did not promise anything and only talked about generalities. They talked about Lebanon`s independence and best interests, but they did not commit to anything, not to Beirut I nor to any of the other issue Saniora asked for help with," Qassem said, in reference to Saniora`s attempts to push the U.S. to convince "Israel" to withdraw from (occupied) Shibaa.
\r\nQassem also said his party was disappointed by statements made by Saniora in Washington that Hizbullah had to prove its commitment to Lebanon`s best interests.
\r\n"We hope that this was a slip of the tongue, because the party is always working for Lebanon`s best interests and does not need to prove this all the time," he said.
\r\nBut Qassem asserted the party had no personal problems with Saniora.
\r\n"We deal with positions and not with persons," he said.
\r\nThe cleric also reiterated support for President Emile Lahoud in the face of calls for his resignation by the country`s parliamentary majority.
\r\n"They [the parliamentary majority] have not presented us with any reason why they think he should resign. He is a person who has protected the resistance and its work, and we appreciate that from him," he said.
\r\nHe added that the parliamentary majority has failed, to date, to provide the name of a candidate to replace Lahoud at the dialogue table, which is why, he said, the majority has to learn to "rule alongside Lahoud."\r\n