Hizbollah leader refuses to disarm in 'victory' speech
Having achieved an unexpected victory over Israel in their recent war, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hizbollah, set out his victory demands yesterday in a speech in which he refused to disarm and demanded a "strong, capable and just government" in Lebanon. This presumably means one in which Hizbullah play a dominant role.
"There is no army in the world that can [force us] to drop our weapons from our hands, from our grip," he told the rally in the southern suburbs of Beirut. "Today we celebrate a great divine, historic and strategic victory."It is a further indication of how severe was the Israeli defeat, and how deluded were Bush's claims of victory, that Nasrallah can make these claims on a public platform safe in the knowledge that there is nothing either the Israelis or the Americans can do to contradict him.
By demanding a role in Lebanon's government Nasrallah is now seeking to have a veto over any attempt by the Lebanese government to force the disarmament demanded under the ceasefire agreement.
Indeed, he went so far as to claim that Hizbullah still have a further 20,000 rockets in their possession.
Mr Regev appears to be missing the point. The international community has already made it quite clear that it has no intention of going into southern Lebanon and doing Israel's dirty work for it, especially as the Israelis themselves were unable to complete the task they set themselves: the destruction and disarmament of Hizbullah.Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said: "The international community can't afford to have this Iranian-funded extremist spit in the face of the organised community of nations."
In response to Hizbollah's claim to still have more than 20,000 rockets, Mr Regev said that, according to the United Nations-backed ceasefire, Hizbollah "shouldn't have any rockets".
Nasrallah now seeks to solidify his power as a state within a state and there appears very little that anyone can do to stop him.
Faris Soueid, a Christian politician close to Mr Saniora, insisted on Al-Arabiya television that the government would not bend to Hizbollah pressure. "I believe it will not scare the government of Fouad Saniora, It will not fall, not in the street and not because of political speeches."However, the truth - as I'm sure Mr Soueid is well aware - is that Hizbullah enjoy a popularity in southern Lebanon that far exceeds that of the Lebanese government.
The truth is that Bush, Blair and Olmert, by their foolish and inhumane policy of attacking the Lebanese and their infrastructure, have actually strengthened the hand of Nasrallah and that the chickens are simply coming home to roost.
I wonder if, even now, they have the common sense to regret the dreadful thing that they did?
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