Nasrallah Denies Having Chemical Arms, Says Abducting Innocents Won't Alter Party Stance on Syria
Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday denied that his group possesses chemical weapons and stressed that the abduction of “innocent people” in Syria cannot force his party to change its stances on the Syrian crisis.
“If the Israelis cross the limits in their aggression, we will not abide by any limits … but the use of chemical weapons is haram (forbidden in Islam). We don't have chemical weapons and we don't need chemical weapons,” said Nasrallah in an interview on the Beirut-based, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen television.
At the end of July, a number of Israeli officials warned against a possible transfer of Syrian chemical weapons to Hizbullah. The Syrian regime, gripped by an unprecedented revolt for 18 months, admitted in July for the first time that it possessed chemical weapons and threatened to use them in the event of foreign military intervention.
Nasrallah, who rarely grants interviews, said that in the case of "enemy attacks" against Lebanon, Hizbullah would not be content to "defend itself" but would also "enter Galilee".
“Our choices are unlimited and all options are on the table. (Israeli Defense Minister Ehud) Barak once told his soldiers that they might return to Lebanon and I told the resistance fighters to get ready for a day when they might have to enter the Galilee region and this option is still on the table,” Nasrallah said.
In February 2011, Nasrallah threatened that Hizbullah would invade this region of northern Israel in the event of an Israeli attack.
Nasrallah again warned that “the rockets of the Islamic Resistance can hit any target in occupied Palestine (Israel).”
“We have the ability to hit painful targets and the Israelis realize that and are taking that into their consideration,” he added.
“I'm surprised by some Lebanese politicians who overlook Israel's threats. When Israel threatens to destroy Lebanon, our duty is to say that this era is over. We must defend our sovereignty and launch a threat that is based on facts and a balance of terror,” Nasrallah continued.
He reassured “every friend and every foe that we are at ease and that we are very optimistic despite all the transformations in Syria and the entire region.”
While ruling out a future Israeli war against Iran, Hizbullah’s main regional ally, Nasrallah said he had information from Iranian leaders that "the retaliation from Tehran will be great" in the event of an Israeli attack.
"Iran will not be conciliatory in the case of a strike against its nuclear facilities," he said, indicating that the Islamic Republic could even retaliate by targeting "American bases in the region."
“I rule out an aggression by the Israeli enemy against Iran and I believe that (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and Barak are trying to blackmail the Americans in order to obtain billions of dollars or advanced missiles from the U.S.,” he added.
Asked about the Syrian crisis, Nasrallah said “even after all these victims a political settlement and dialogue are possible in Syria.”
“Lebanon can be an example where 200,000 people were killed” in the civil war, he noted.
“Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and the states concerned must support dialogue in Syria. The rational solution lies in ending the fighting and resorting to dialogue, which would protect us all,” said Nasrallah.
He noted that some countries want to oust the entire regime, not only President Bashar Assad.
“A key Arab state that is supporting the armed rebellion in Syria has asked President Assad to end the threat to Israel and severe ties with Iran and Hizbullah, and a Saudi official told an Iranian official that the solution in Bahrain is the return of people to their homes. We are not saying that the Syrian regime must not undergo changes,” added Nasrallah.
Justifying Hizbullah’s support for the Syrian regime after backing popular uprisings in other Arab countries, Nasrallah said: “The Syrian regime was willing to engage in dialogue and make reforms, that's why our stance on Syria was different because the regime in Syria is different.”
“There is an anti-Israel regime in Syria that also fought the American forces in Iraq. They might say that it did not liberate the Golan, but it made greater achievements while they failed to do anything,” he added.
Hizbullah’s leader ruled out foreign military intervention in Syria, noting that “the Americans are negotiating with the Taliban and they are not ready to go to a new war.”
“The consequences of military intervention in Syria cannot be predicted or guaranteed and who said that the Americans want to settle the situation in Syria. The U.S. wants the crisis to drag on in Syria and the destruction of the entire country,” he noted.
“The Americans sent many suicide bombers to blow up Shiite and Sunni mosques and churches in Iraq. The U.S. is satisfied with the Syrian scene and Israel's dream is chaos in the region,” Nasrallah charged.
He warned that “it's a grave mistake to give the events in Syria a sectarian dimension.”
“Sectarianism would destroy or partition Syria,” Nasrallah cautioned.
Addressing the issue of the Lebanese abductees in Syria, Nasrallah called on the abductors to release them “if they are really seeking freedom and justice.”
“If you want a good relation with the Shiites in Lebanon, you should not act like this or use innocents to pressure a certain group into changing their opinion as that will not lead to any result,” Nasrallah noted.
“If someone wants to convince us of a certain stance on Syria, we are ready to discuss that, but it is not rational to take hostages and pressure their families in order to ask us to change our stance,” he added.
Syrian rebels abducted 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims on May 22 in the northern Syrian town of Aazaz. The abductors have claimed that some of the hostages are Hizbullah members and demanded an apology from Nasrallah over his stances on the Syrian uprising. Hizbullah has denied the claims.
Asked about the counter-kidnappings of Syrians and Turks that happened in Lebanon, Nasrallah said: “We did not approve the abductions and we don't see any use in the kidnappings that happened in Lebanon.”
Asked about Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s government, Nasrallah said “the current government is not less productive than the previous governments.”
“It is a productive government and we believe that some parties want to push things to chaos. We believe that stability can be maintained through the survival of the current government,” he noted.
“Should PM Miqati resign and the government collapse, we will not be able to form another government before six months and the country does not need a political vacuum,” Nasrallah warned.
Source: Naharnet
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