Nasrallah Says Entire Lebanon Facing 'New Security Situation', Urges Dialogue on Defense Strategy
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday said that all Lebanese regions are going through a “new security situation,” noting that Hizbullah is willing to engage in national dialogue over a national defense strategy “without any preconditions.”
“There's no doubt that we're going through a new security situation,” Nasrallah said in a televised address during the annual iftar banquet held by the Islamic Resistance Support Association.
“We call on people to be cautious and vigilant, not only in the environment of the resistance as those seeking to stir strife might strike anywhere. Everyone must cooperate and security is the responsibility of the state. We must be vigilant and through cooperation we can overcome this difficult period,” Nasrallah added.
But he reassured that “compared to what's going on in the region, we are still in a very good situation.”
“We overcame a lot of plights and conspiracies through people's will, sacrifices, honesty and patience … With the same level of faith, action, will and accuracy, we will overcome this stage and be confident that this resistance is competent and capable of overcoming all the current and coming difficulties," Nasrallah added.
On July 9, fifty-three people were wounded when a bomb blast went off in the Beirut southern suburb of Bir al-Abed, a Hizbullah stronghold. On Tuesday, a bomb in the Bekaa region hit a Hizbullah convoy traveling towards the Lebanese border crossing with Syria, killing one person and wounding three others.
The Bekaa bombing is the fourth time that a vehicle has been targeted by an explosive device in the Bekaa region, which is also a stronghold of Hizbullah.
Hizbullah has dispatched fighters to battle alongside the Syrian regime against rebels seeking the overthrow of President Bashar Assad.
The conflict, pitting a Sunni-dominated rebel movement against Assad, has raised sectarian tensions in Lebanon and Lebanese Sunni fighters have also been killed while fighting alongside Syrian rebels.
Turning to the latest controversy over the army's military operation that ended the presence of anti-Hizbullah cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir in Sidon, Nasrallah said: “We call on the Lebanese to be extremely cautious in light of the current divisions. If, God forbid, the army was split or weakened, the country would no longer know peace or stability, as in any security incident that happens we are all counting on the army to prevent chaos."
“Should the army be divided, the state and the country will cease to exist, not to mention that the army is a main factor in confronting the Israeli aggressions,” Nasrallah added.
“The military institution must be kept outside the political disputes and of course we are calling for strengthening this institution and several times we said that the Islamic Republic of Iran is willing to help, but some Arab and foreign states do not want a strong army in Lebanon,” he went on to say.
“I am not theorizing. This is our rhetoric and this our culture regarding the army. We are saying that it is the guarantee and the partner of the resistance and one day the army is supposed to defend this country on its own and we would return to our normal life,” Nasrallah said.
On June 23, gunmen loyal to Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir attacked an army checkpoint near the Islamist cleric's mosque in Sidon's Abra. Eighteen soldiers were martyred and 20 others were wounded in the attack and in the fierce clashes that ensued.
At least twenty of Asir's gunmen were also killed in the battle that ended when the army stormed Asir's headquarters on June 24.
In the wake of the clashes, the March 14 forces demanded a probe into alleged abuses by army troops against civilians and suspects and into claims that Hizbullah fighters had taken part in the clashes.
“Our civilians were demonstrating in the light of day in 1993 when the army opened fire on them. Ten people were martyred and 50 others were wounded but the people in Dahieh did not fire a single bullet on the army. A number of brothers and I went to the area and said no one must attack the army because this is our creed,” Nasrallah recalled.
“The entire world knows that seven civilians were killed in the Mar Mikhail incidents and that no one opened fire on the army,” he added.
“There is the case of martyr pilot Samer Hanna and we admitted that we made a mistake and handed over the perpetrator to the judiciary and the judiciary dealt with the issue,” Hizbullah's secretary-general went on to say.
He called on the Lebanese parties to “protect our last guarantee,” in reference to the army, noting that “as long as this (military) institution exists, we can form governments and hold elections.”
Turning to the issue of Hizbullah's controversial arsenal of weapons, Nasrallah said: “We are willing to engage in any form of dialogue over a national defense strategy without any preconditions, before or after the formation of the new cabinet, because we are honest in seeking to protect our country.”
“I had proposed a defense strategy but no one tried to discuss it around the dialogue table or even outside national dialogue. No one held a seminar over this strategy because they are not serious in discussing the issue. They only want one thing, which is to remove our weapons,” he added.
“This is everyone's country and we must all defend it and regardless of debates, there is a real national need to discuss a national defense strategy,” Nasrallah noted.
He pointed out that “a popular resistance managed through its faith and proper utilization of capabilities to create a balance of terror that is protecting Lebanon from attacks.”
“Can anyone claim that Lebanon has become outside the circle of Israeli threats and ambitions? If anyone believes that, then this is a real tragedy,” Nasrallah said.
He warned that “the expansionist ambitions of Israel know no limits,” noting that caretaker Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil “voiced clear remarks that Israel has started to take our oil and gas, but no one stirred a finger.”
“When any of us approaches the issue of the army, the resistance or diplomacy, we must take the dangers, choices and the feasibility of these choices into account,” said Nasrallah.
“We must not discuss the sex of angels or whether the weapons are legal or illegal, we must rather ask whether we need this resistance or not,” he added.
“The big question is who can we count on to protect our country … What has the Arab League done regarding our problem with Israel?” Nasrallah said.
He asked: “What is the alternative to the weapons of the resistance?”
“Whoever thinks that we enjoy combat is mistaken ... but when an enemy is threatening you, it is your responsibility to fight, defend and protect,” Nasrallah clarified.
He stressed: “The resistance is unbreakable and anyone who tries to defeat any faction of the resistance will fail, as the resistance is not an organization, but rather an enormous and firm popular will.”
“The theories of elimination and isolation will lead nowhere and we don't want to eliminate anyone. We are willing to engage in dialogue and to meet with everyone. We can keep the Syrian topic out of the discussions and we can agree on the Lebanese issues. Why should we stop at the points of contention and forget all the points of agreement?” Nasrallah added.
“Let us be patient in dealing with each other and we have asked our MPs to discuss things in a calm manner. We also call on the Syrians, Palestinians and Egyptians to resort to dialogue, which is the only choice regardless of the level of rivalry and animosity,” he said.
Source: Naharnet
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