Hizbullah "needs its arms" beyond occupied Shibaa
Source: AFP, 20-06-2008
BEIRUT: Hizbullah on Thursday said Lebanon would still need its armed presence even if 'Israel' finally quit the occupied Shibaa Farms region in the South. "Any Zionist retreat from the occupied Shibaa Farms would be a big achievement for the resistance for this would be the result of its role and its pressure," Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah was quoted as saying by the state-run National News Agency (NNA).
But any retreat "will not change the fact that Lebanon needs the resistance," he added.
Hizbullah, which forced 'Israel's' pullout from most of South Lebanon in May 2000 after two decades of occupation, sees itself as the legitimate resistance to the Zionist state.
Fadlallah also accused the international community, particularly the United States, of involving itself recently in the occupied Shibaa Farms issue "for aims linked to the resistance" - a reference to demands for Hizbullah to disarm."
"Those who think that putting the occupied Shibaa Farms under international supervision could put pressure on the resistance... delude themselves," he added.
During a surprise visit to Lebanon Monday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she believed it was time to resolve the occupied Shibaa Farms dispute in conformity with Un Security Council Resolution 1701.
The resolution, which ended the 34-day war with 'Israel' in August 2006, was based on a plan drawn up by Western-backed Lebanese Premier Fouad Saniora.
The plan stipulated putting occupied Shibaa under United Nations supervision pending a resolution between Lebanon, Syria and 'Israel' on its legitimate ownership. Beirut, supported by Damascus, claims sovereignty the territory while the Zionist state claims it is part of the Syrian Golan Heights which it seized in the 1967 war.
Rice also said during her visit to Beirut that Washington still considered Hizbullah a terrorist organization.
On Thursday, Rice held talks in New York with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over the occupied Shibaa Farms issue.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner emphasized the importance of addressing the issue of the occupied Shibaa Farms in the framework of the United Nations.
"There is a proposal to grant the United Nations the role of mediator, and this is nothing new," Kouchner said. "I opened the issue of the Lebanese Shibaa Farms with 'Israeli' War Minister Ehud Barak yesterday evening over dinner," Kouchner told reporters Thursday. The talks were not easy, he added.
Also tackling the issue of the occupied Shibaa Farms, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem welcomed the possible 'Israeli' withdrawal from the region under American pressure.
"We are with the 'Israeli' withdrawal from Arab land, whether it is called Shibaa, Golan or 'Jerusalem' (al-Quds)," he said.
BEIRUT: Hizbullah on Thursday said Lebanon would still need its armed presence even if 'Israel' finally quit the occupied Shibaa Farms region in the South. "Any Zionist retreat from the occupied Shibaa Farms would be a big achievement for the resistance for this would be the result of its role and its pressure," Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah was quoted as saying by the state-run National News Agency (NNA).
But any retreat "will not change the fact that Lebanon needs the resistance," he added.
Hizbullah, which forced 'Israel's' pullout from most of South Lebanon in May 2000 after two decades of occupation, sees itself as the legitimate resistance to the Zionist state.
Fadlallah also accused the international community, particularly the United States, of involving itself recently in the occupied Shibaa Farms issue "for aims linked to the resistance" - a reference to demands for Hizbullah to disarm."
"Those who think that putting the occupied Shibaa Farms under international supervision could put pressure on the resistance... delude themselves," he added.
During a surprise visit to Lebanon Monday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she believed it was time to resolve the occupied Shibaa Farms dispute in conformity with Un Security Council Resolution 1701.
The resolution, which ended the 34-day war with 'Israel' in August 2006, was based on a plan drawn up by Western-backed Lebanese Premier Fouad Saniora.
The plan stipulated putting occupied Shibaa under United Nations supervision pending a resolution between Lebanon, Syria and 'Israel' on its legitimate ownership. Beirut, supported by Damascus, claims sovereignty the territory while the Zionist state claims it is part of the Syrian Golan Heights which it seized in the 1967 war.
Rice also said during her visit to Beirut that Washington still considered Hizbullah a terrorist organization.
On Thursday, Rice held talks in New York with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over the occupied Shibaa Farms issue.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner emphasized the importance of addressing the issue of the occupied Shibaa Farms in the framework of the United Nations.
"There is a proposal to grant the United Nations the role of mediator, and this is nothing new," Kouchner said. "I opened the issue of the Lebanese Shibaa Farms with 'Israeli' War Minister Ehud Barak yesterday evening over dinner," Kouchner told reporters Thursday. The talks were not easy, he added.
Also tackling the issue of the occupied Shibaa Farms, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem welcomed the possible 'Israeli' withdrawal from the region under American pressure.
"We are with the 'Israeli' withdrawal from Arab land, whether it is called Shibaa, Golan or 'Jerusalem' (al-Quds)," he said.
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