Hezbollah leader blasts Bush in first public appearance in a year

Beirut: NU Online
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah appeared in public for the first time in a year on Saturday,accusing the U.S. president of using his recent Mideast tour to incite Arabs against Iran and warned Arab governments not to fall in the trap.

The head of the Shiite Muslim militant group, who walked for a few minutes among tens of thousands of people taking part in a religious ceremony, also accused the Jewish state’s military of lying to its people.<>
      
“Bush wants to convince our rulers and people that Iran is the enemy, that Iran poses a danger and a threat, and that Israel is a brother, a beloved friend and neighbor for whom we must extend our hand in peace,” Nasrallah said in an address to the crowd.
      
“Is there in history a greater forgery, deceit and hypocrisy?” he asked.
      
Nasrallah called on Arab governments to confront Bush’s “satanic visions” for the Middle East, which he said serve only the interests of the U.S. and Israel.
      
“The entire (Arab) nation is called upon to reply to Bush’s trip by staying committed to the choice of (armed) resistance and supporting resistance groups everywhere,” he said.
      
The black-turbaned Nasrallah spoke Saturday after taking part in commemorations marking Ashoura — the most important holiday for Shiite Muslims — in the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut.
      
Before his speech, which was relayed on a giant screen to the crowds, he walked amid dozens of black-clad security men, waving to the crowds. His appearance dispelled Israeli and Arab media reports late last year that Nasrallah had been demoted by Hezbollah’s Iranian sponsors and that control of the group’s military wing was given to his deputy.
      
Hezbollah had denied the reports, which appeared in the Saudi-owned Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat and the Israeli daily Maariv.
      
Nasrallah went into hiding for fear of an Israeli assassination.

The last time he appeared in public was in September 2006 at a “Victory Rally” marking the end of a monthlong war between Israel and the militant Shiite group and then briefly during Ashoura in January 2007.
      
Since then, he has only addressed his supporters through video-links or on television.
      
During Israel’s 34-day offensive in the summer of 2006, it threatened to kill Nasrallah as it did his predecessor in 1992.
      
During his speech Saturday, Nasrallah also claimed that Hezbollah had many remains belonging to Israeli soldiers that were killed in Lebanon during the 2006 war.
      
“Your army left behind the remains of soldiers in our villages and fields,” he said, addressing the Israeli people, during a speech to the crowds in south Beirut.
      
“They (Israeli army) were so weak on the field that they left behind remains not of one, two or three but a large number of your soldiers,” Nasrallah said.
      
“One body is almost complete,” Nasrallah said. “What did the (Israeli) army say to the family of this soldiers and what remains did they give them?” he asked.
      
In an interview earlier this year, Nasrallah said his group was holding the remains of Israeli troops killed in Lebanon, but he did not go into detail at the time. He claimed in the interview that Hezbollah offered during negotiations to return the remains, but the Israeli side was not interested. Israel denied the claims at the time.
      
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office refused to comment on Nasrallah’s allegations Saturday. Official Israeli figures say 119 Israeli soldiers died in the 2006 fighting but Israel has not publicly confirmed that any bodies were left behind in Lebanon.
      
Nasrallah’s graphic description of the remains Saturday appeared aimed at increasing pressure on the Jewish State to accept a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah. Israel is thought to be holding at least seven Lebanese prisoners while Hezbollah has two Israeli soldiers it captured in July 2006, triggering the war.
      
Nasrallah also warned Israel against attacking Lebanon and violating its sovereignty, including Israel’s occasional brief detentions of Lebanese citizens along the border.
      
“If Israel launched a new war in Lebanon, we promise them a war that will change the direction of the battle and the fate of the entire region, God willing,” he said.
      
Ashoura marks the death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, who died in a battle in 680 against the leader of what became the Sunni branch of Islam. The battle took place in Karbala, which is located in present day Iraq. (ap/dar)