Hizbullah Official al-Khalil: Government Decisions Formed a Declaration of War on Hizbullah

Source: Nowlebanon.com, 13-5-2008
The Political Aide of Hizbullah's Secretary General Hajj Hussein al-Khalil held on Monday evening a press conference in which he said:
"The government's decisions formed a declaration of war on Hizbullah. The natural response to this was the movement of the Lebanese to defend themselves against this group, which occupies power and violates the constitution.
We decided to give the government 48 hours to revoke their decisions... or else the position is clear, and it was civil protest until the government returns to dialogue, instead of exercising illegitimate power.
The ruling majority's calculations were once again mistaken, as foreign embassies did not come to their rescue. They thought that if they injured a few opposition supporters, the opposition would withdraw from the streets... But the children of Beirut defended the unity of Beirut and the coexistence of its residents, and the clashes were soon over and control ceded to the army.
Beirut is today open to the eyes of all and to the media ... The Beirut of the resistance issued the first bullets of the resistance. The kidnapping, execution and disfiguration of the bodies in Aley was not broadcast to avoid the boiling over of people's sentiments.
What happened yesterday is that PSP gunmen attacked a town with small and medium arms, which led to the fall of four martyrs, before the clashes began. This is in addition to the execution of the three others.
The criminals behind the Aley (above mentioned) crimes, in addition to the Halba crimes, are a reminder of the war crimes that are rejected by all Lebanese and for which the ruling team is responsible.
The resistance always limited differences to politics, but it was forces to defend its self.
We agree with (Prime Minister Fouad) Saniora that the resistance's arms are at the heart of the problem, as he said. He is under the illusion that he can disarm us, to fulfill the American dream of a Lebanon without resistance, in which Israel has a hand.
The resistance has agreed to withdraw all arms from the streets of Beirut but will continue its civil disobedience against the government.
We confirm the following:
First, we will continue our peaceful civil disobedience to achieve the goals we have announced, in particular, until the government revokes its decisions and returns to the dialogue table.
Second, the (government) team intended to break up the army and the resistance. What happened has cut off the road to the full-blown civil war, which the government planned.
Third, we demand that all Arab parties who want to save Lebanon not stand with any one party's interests against another party.
The USS Cole has been here before, and NATO was in Lebanon... We, today, say that these parties want to turn Lebanon from a resistant entity into a conspirator.
What happened in the streets has nothing to do with the political crisis, and we do not aim it at achieving political goals.
We hope one day that Walid Jumblatt will wake up to the sins he committed against the country.
If the government insists on its saying "no"... the opposition will continue its program.