'Hizbullah has right to transfer arms'

Nasrallah says he will not forgive Lebanese gov't for confiscating weapons.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, AP
hizbullah nasrallah 298 (photo credit: AP [file])
hizbullah nasrallah 298
(photo credit: AP [file])
Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said Friday that the terror organization "had the right to secretly transfer arms in order to hide them from the Israeli enemy." Nasrallah said in yet another televised speech that he would not forgive Lebanon for confiscating one of the group's trucks last week which was carrying weapons to the group. Speaking at an event commemorating the death of Abbas Musawi, Nasrallah's predecessor, he admitted that "Hizbullah has many types of weapons," and that he is "ready to give the Lebanese army weapons if needed." He would not forgive anyone who confiscated even one bullet, he added, referring to the government. Hizbullah, he said, had been willing to join forces with the Lebanese army during the latest clashes between the army and the IDF on the northern border. "In Maroun al-Ras we were ready to join and assist the officers and soldiers of the Lebanese army. If another conflict breaks out, our weapons, our blood and our youth will stand with Lebanon's army," he insisted. He vowed to continue the opposition campaign to force Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to share power or step down. Nasrallah said he was confident of eventual triumph, claiming the group had the resources for it. "No one should imagine that the opposition's coffers have emptied," he said. "If the (demands) are not met, the opposition will continue its actions by means which it finds appropriate." However, Nasrallah insisted his Shiite Muslim followers would not incite a conflict that could degenerate into a civil war. "Civil war is a red line," Nasrallah said, an expression he also used last month after scuffles between pro- and anti-government supporters turned into Shiite-Sunni sectarian clashes that killed eight people. Nasrallah, whose Iranian- and Syrian-backed group is joined in the opposition by other Shiite, some Christian, Druse and Sunni factions, has urged bilateral meetings with the government to help end the crisis. The opposition wants to give the opportunity for a settlement, Nasrallah has claimed, accusing the government side of paralyzing the country. The Western support which has sustained the government will not last long, the black-turbaned Shiite cleric also said. "The opposition will achieve its goal and will triumph sooner or later." He also dismissed warnings issued by his opponents that the group may attack UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon. Nasrallah said it was not in the "interest of Lebanon, the south and the resistance to have trouble with" the United Nations.