Hizbullah's deputy leader said in remarks aired yesterday that the guerrilla group would not stand down until the Lebanese army was ready to defend the country.
"It [the resistance] should remain standing and maintain its readiness . . . until we are assured that there is an alternative defence strategy that can handle the problem of Israeli aggressions and the Israeli danger on Lebanon and liberate the land and prisoners," Sheikh Naim Kassem told al-Jazeera television in an interview. "At the same time, we have to enhance the Lebanese army and give it its role," he said.
Hizbullah has vowed to adhere to the ceasefire which halted the 34-day war with Israel, which was triggered by its abduction of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border operation.
The ceasefire requires Lebanon to deploy its army in the south to replace Hizbullah's fighters. Kassem accused Israel of violating the truce several times. The UN-backed truce was jolted by an Israeli commando raid in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley on Saturday, which the United Nations described as a violation.
The Israeli army yesterday said that its troops had shot three armed men in south Lebanon.
Al Arabiya television reported that three Hizbullah fighters had been killed and four Israeli soldiers wounded in the firefight. Both Israel and Hizbullah denied this. Kassem said that Israel had expansionist goals and would continue to threaten Lebanon, adding: "Israel cannot exist without aggression."
"Had we not been prepared, there would have been a real disaster," he said in reference to the war, which killed about 1,200 people in Lebanon and 157 Israelis.
Kassem, who claimed that one of his two sons had been badly wounded in the fighting, said that Hizbullah won the war against Israel and its top ally, the United States. "So long as the enemy did not achieve its goals, then it has been defeated."
The Lebanese army has deployed along the Syrian border and has moved deep into the shattered south, but Israel says that its troops will not pull out fully until extra UN forces arrive.
UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said after talks with Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni and aides to the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, that he hoped Israel would end its air and sea blockade of Lebanon as the authorities there took full control of the borders. He also said he saw "reason for optimism" that all parties would fully respect the truce.
The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, discussed aid plans in Beirut. He was the first head of state to visit Lebanon since the war began. Lebanese officials have said Qatar has offered to rebuild devastated villages in the south.
- (Reuters)