LEBANON: Hezbollah leader speaks for first time following government collapse

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah gave an address on TV on Sunday night to lay out Hezbollah's rationale for orchestrating the collapse of the government last week.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah and its allies withdrew from the cabinet, dissolving the government and throwing Lebanon into a new phase of tense uncertainty.

Nasrallah explained in the clearest terms yet Hezbollah's demands of the Lebanese state regarding the U.N.-backed tribunal that is expected soon to indict members of Hezbollah accused of involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.

According to Nasrallah, Hezbollah wanted three things: the withdrawal of Lebanese judges from the tribunal, the withdrawal of Lebanese funding for the tribunal, the cancellation of the Lebanese state's agreement with the tribunal.

"This absolutely does not mean the abolishment of the tribunal or the indictments," Nasrallah said, although the group still believes the tribunal is a plot by Israel and the U.S. to target Hezbollah's weapons.

"If we had agreed to these points, we would be preventing conflict in Lebanon," he added.

He later added a fourth condition, the resolution of the "false witnesses file." Several of the tribunal's key witnesses have had their credibility called into question, and Hezbollah has been demanding for months that the government convene to discuss it. Nasrallah then went on to accuse Hariri of seeking to bury the issue of false witnesses.

Nasrallah said a deal to resolve the tribunal matter was close to being struck with the help of Saudi Arabia, which backs the pro-tribunal March 14 coalition, led by the late Hariri's son, Saad Hariri, who was prime minister at the time of the government's collapse last week, and Syria, a patron of Hezbollah.

But when Saad Hariri went to the United States to meet with President Obama and other American officials, Nasrallah said, the deal was suddenly off, leading him to conclude that external pressure had sabotaged the agreement.

Nasrallah suggested that the sealed indictments could be delivered to the tribunal pre-trail judge as early as Monday; if that occurs, their contents are not expected to be made public for another six weeks at the earliest.

-- Meris Lutz in Beirut

Photo: Sheik Hassan Nasrallah gave a televised speech on Sunday in which he laid out Hezbollah's reasons for resigning from the government. Credit: Meris Lutz

Comments

[Ray01]

Hezbollah is a Popular resistance movement formed in opposition to the illegal Israeli invasion & occupation of Lebanon in 1982. Successful in driving out the Israelis in 2000, Hezbollah went on to give $ 40,000 per Lebanese home destroyed in the South by the Israelis, established day care centers & health care for the less fortunate Shia citizens. Hezbollah went on to legitimately gain seats in the Lebanese Parliament. Its greatest claim to fame is standing up in 2006 for 34 days to the world's 4th most powerful military, the IDF, thus dispelling the myth of Israeli invincibility.

Hezbollah is far stronger than the Lebanese Army & thus represents a threat to the interests of the aggressive neighbor to Lebanon's South.

Knowing that the UN Tribunal is being pressured & controlled by The US who is complicit with Israel, Hezbollah wisely is not taking the bait.

The forthcoming indictments are rigged by a kangaroo court that is intent on weakening the strongest military power in Lebanon.

If you want to see who is guilty of a crime, look to see who would benefit.
In the case of the Harriri Assassination in 2005, Israel would clearly benefit from a weakened Hezbollah. Look to the South for the "Country of Interest" regarding the Harriri Assassination,

[Joe]

Blaming others is being used by everyone justifiably or not, Arabs blame Israel, Israel blames Iran, Iran blames US while US opportunistically blames whichever side which have lost never mind that they had supported a loser before he was overthrown, Sudan is a case and point!

This is for commentators who are claiming Arabs blaming Israel if like Israel leaders never blame anyone while constantly playing a 'victim' card!
"This may not be obvious to some of you, because you hear all the time a contrary statement that says 'well, what will keep the peace is the peace,'" said Netanyahu. The formal conclusion of peace doesn't guarantee the continuation of peace, but the security arrangements will "buttress" it and "protect us in case peace unravels ... or Iran tries to walk in," the prime minister said."

[uncle_vito]

This is potentialy the start of WWIII and the Times puts this on the back pages.

Oh I forgot. The Times is still exploiting the AZ tradegy to sell a few more newspapers.

[ABG]

Nasrallah has also blamed Israel for the death of Imad Mughniyeh who was the member of Hezbollah who had orchestrated Hairi's assassination, so, really, what does he know?

I keep forgetting. It's all Israel's fault.