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Beirut (AFP) May 25, 2010 Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday that his militants were capable of wiping out Israel's navy and any other ships heading to Israel in the event of a new war with the Jewish state. "If you launch a new war on Lebanon, if you blockade our coastline, all military, civilian or commercial ships heading through the Mediterranean to occupied Palestine will be targetted by the Islamic resistance," said Nasrallah in a speech transmitted via video link to thousands of supporters massed in Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs. "Whether along the northern or southern Israeli shore, we can target ships, bomb them and hit them God willing," he added, speaking on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after a 22-year occupation. "When the world sees how these ships are destroyed, no one will dare go there (Israel)," he added. "And I am only speaking about the Mediterranean, I haven't reached the Red Sea yet." His speech came against a backdrop of tension in the region following allegations that the Shiite party, which fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006, was stockpiling sophisticated new weapons in anticipation of a new conflict. Nasrallah said in his hour-long speech that he would not comment on his party's military capacity so as to reserve a "surprise" for Israel in the event of a new conflict. "The enemy is scared and we will keep him scared," he said, referring to Israel. "But you (the Lebanese) should feel assured because the equation has changed. "In the next war, we will resist, come out victorious and change the face of the region God willing," he added to applause. Nasrallah accused Israeli leaders of spreading allegations that Syria was transferring Scud missiles to Hezbollah in order to garner further US financial assistance. "The whole brouhaha over the Scuds was so that Israel could get 200 or 250 million dollars in aid from the US Congress," he claimed. "Despite its economic crisis, the US finds money to assist Israel." He said his party stood ready for a new war even though it was not seeking a conflict and added that he would neither confirm nor deny Israel's allegations concerning the Scuds. "If you are strong, the world respects you and talks to you and takes you into account," he said. "And as such we can impose our conditions. "If you are weak, you will be eaten." His speech came as Prime Minister Saad Hariri was on his first official visit to the United States, where he met on Monday with President Barack Obama, who raised the issue of illegal arms smuggled into Lebanon. On Wednesday, Hariri was to address the UN Security Council, chaired this month by Lebanon. Hezbollah, blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Washington, has two ministers in the Lebanese government. It is the only faction that refused to disarm following the country's 1975-1990 civil war, claiming its arsenal was needed to defend Lebanon against any Israeli aggression.
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Decade after Israeli pullout new war loomsBeirut, Lebanon (UPI) May 24, 2010 Ten years ago Monday, Israel's vaunted army withdrew from its "security zone" in south Lebanon in the face of remorseless Hezbollah attacks. Today, the Levant - and probably much of the Middle East - teeters on the brink of another war between the Jewish state and a Hezbollah that has the trappings of a conventional army. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently noted th ... read more |
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