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Nasrallah Refutes Mehlis, Larsen's Reports
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"We
reject pushing Lebanon to a confrontation with Syria, to fight Syria or
to consider Syria the enemy of Lebanon," Nasrallah said. (Reuters)
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BEIRUT,
October 28, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The leader
of Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance group blasted Friday, October 28,
the United Nations for 'political incitement' against Damascus over
the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri and
imposing its mandate on Lebanon, accusing the international community
of working to only serve the interests of Israel.
"In
principle we reject that anyone is judged in Lebanon or in Syria
without evidence and a fair trial," Hezbollah Secretary General
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah told a big rally marking Al-Quds Day in
Beirut, Reuters reported.
Nasrallah
criticized UN envoy in Lebanon Terje Roed-Larsen, accusing him of
attempting to impose a mandate on the Arab country under claims of
implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1559.
"Larsen's
report on the UN resolution discussed several issues that have nothing
to do with his own mission in Lebanon such as the Lebanese elections
and Hezbollah's role," Nasrallah said on a fiery speech, aired
live on the Doha-based Al-Jazeera TV and Hezbollah TV in Lebanon.
"Larsen's
main goal in Lebanon is disarm Hezbollah and the Palestinian
resistance factions."
Nasrallah
also accused the UN envoy of raising the issue of border demarcation
between Lebanon and Syria despite the ongoing intense situation in the
region.
Backing
Syria
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Thousands of Lebanese, raising Hezbollah flags, marked Al-Quds Day. (Reuters)
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Nasrallah
further accused German investigator Detliv Mehlis of issuing a
politicized report that helped persecute the Syrian regime even before
any professional and fair probe was conducted.
"We
say clearly that we stand by Syria, leadership and people, in the face
of its targeting by the Americans and Zionists and attempts to punish
it politically for standing by Lebanon and its resistance."
A
UN unfinished inquiry led by Mehlis said there were "converging
evidence" of Syrian and Lebanese involvement in Hariri murder,
accusing Damascus of blocking and misleading the investigation.
The
report also named senior Syrian officials as suspects in the killing,
prompting the United States and France to put forward a draft
resolution at the UN Security Council demanding Syria cooperate fully
with the inquiry and threatening economic sanctions.
"What
we are witnessing today is the using of the Mehlis report to punish
Syria for a crime that it has not been convicted of as a punishment
for its political and strategic options," Nasrallah said.
By
demanding sanctions against Syria, "the United States is using an
investigation which has not yet finished as an instrument," said
Nasrallah.
"The
United States has already wound up its investigation... and accused
Syria, putting itself in the place of the judges and only allowing the
Security Council to spell out sanctions" it has pushed for, he
added, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Nasrallah
also accused the United States of leading an incitement campaign to
sow animosity between Lebanon and Syria.
"We
reject pushing Lebanon to a confrontation with Syria, to fight Syria
or to consider Syria the enemy of Lebanon."
Nasrallah
appealed for "an urgent meeting of the Arab League" to
"intervene quickly and propose an initiative about the (UN)
report and Lebanese-Syrian relations and pressure against Syria."
Friday's
rally, an annual event to mark Al-Quds Day in support of the struggle
of the Palestinian people against the Israeli occupation, was the
first major gathering organized by the Lebanese resistance group since
Syria pulled out its troops from Lebanon in April.
Marking
the day, some 6,000 Hezbollah fighters, in khaki, brown or black
military fatigues but carrying no weapons, marched in formation in
front of cheering crowds waving the group's yellow flags and chanting
"Death to Israel, Death to America".
"Oh,
Jerusalem, we are coming," the fighters chanted, with huge
Lebanese and Palestinian flags hang from rooftops.
A
big flag picturing the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem with the words
"We are coming" inscribed was a prominent feature in the
scene.
Biased
Report
Speaking
on Al-Jazeera Friday, Lebanese Information Minister Ghazi Al-Aridi
agreed with Nasrallah, accusing the UN envoy to Lebanon of turning a
blind eye to the daily Israeli violations against the Lebanese
territories.
In
his report to the United Nations on the implementation of Security
Council Resolution 1559, adopted in September 2004, Larsen said that
the continued presence of armed groups in Lebanon was incompatible
with the restoration of Lebanese sovereignty and territorial
integrity.
"The
existence of armed groups defying the control of the legitimate
government which by definition is vested with a monopoly on the use of
force throughout its territory, is incompatible with the restoration
and full respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and
political independence of the country," the report said.
It
also pointed to what it named the "illegal transfer of arms and
people toward armed Palestinian groups in Lebanon, which has
threatened to cast a shadow on the efforts aimed at bolstering
Lebanon's sovereignty."
On
the status of Hezbollah, the report noted that many Lebanese continue
to view it not as a militia but as a "legitimate resistance
movement" fighting for the liberation of the Shebaa Farms area
from Israeli occupation."
Viewed
by most Lebanese as a resistance force, the group played an
instrumental role in forcing Israel to end its 22-year occupation of
south Lebanon.
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