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Israel 'must take Nasrallah seriously'

08/15/2007 11:47 PM | Agencies

Occupied Jerusalem/Beirut: Israel must take seriously Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah which fought a war with the Jewish state last year, a senior minister said yesterday.

"We have to take Nasrallah seriously, he has never lied," Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, a member of Israel's powerful security cabinet, told army radio.

"He is arrogant, but he does what he says," he said. "If he says he has 2,000 rockets, I believe him, but I do not know what surprise he is alluding to."

He was referring to a speech by Nasrallah on Tuesday marking the end of the 34-day war in August last year, in which he warned Israel against launching new attacks on his Shiite group.

"If you, the Zionists, are considering attacking Lebanon, I am reserving a surprise for you that will change the fate of the war and the region," Nasrallah said.

Nasrallah warned Israel on Tuesday it would face a "big surprise" that could change the course of war and shake the entire Mideast if it invades Lebanon again.

In a speech to mark the one year anniversary of the ceasefire that ended last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah, Nasrallah also reiterated that his group possessed long-range rockets that can reach any area deep into the Jewish state.

"Oh Zionists, if you think of launching a war on Lebanon, and I don't advise to do it, ... I promise you a big surprise that could change the fate of war and the fate of the region," Nasrallah told a mass rally late on Tuesday in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that was heavily bombed by Israeli warplanes during last year's war.

The rally, attended by thousands of Hezbollah supporters waving the group's yellow banners and the Lebanese flag, was organised by the Shiite group to mark the end of last year's 34-day war, which Hezbollah says it won and calls "a divine victory".

Threats

Nasrallah did not elaborate on his threats, but specifically referred to a Hezbollah missile attack that destroyed an Israeli warship in the Mediterranean while it was shelling Beirut's southern suburbs.

He then alluded to several Hezbollah missile strikes that destroyed Israeli Merkava tanks in southern Lebanon. Israel has said the attacks were conducted with sophisticated missiles provided by Iran.

Nasrallah, whose whereabouts are unknown, did not personally attend the rally on Tuesday and his speech was relayed to the crowd on giant screens set up in a stadium and on top of buildings in the southern suburbs.

The black-turbaned cleric said Hezbollah was not seeking a new war with Israel but was ready to fight if Lebanon was attacked again.

"I make this commitment with the resistance to protect Lebanon and the Lebanese people," Nasrallah said, drawing cheers from the crowd.

"If the war occurs, God forbids - and I repeat that we don't want it - we must be ready for it in the resistance, the army, the people and the state." Nasrallah repeated recent claims that Hezbollah possesses thousands of long-range missiles capable of hitting any area in Israel. He said having these missiles is part of "a psychological war" designed to prevent the outbreak of war.

In his speech, Nasrallah also said Israel and the US made false accusations about Hezbollah and tried to divide the Lebanese people to justify the war last summer.

"They (America and Israel) wanted to tear us apart," the Shiite leader said.

"They wanted to use war to isolate us one country after the other, one people after the other, one sect after the other and one party after the other," Nasrallah said.

"When we are divided, they will win and we will be defeated. The most serious accusation was the sectarian issue," he added. "They told the Christians that the fighting was with a Muslim group and that it has nothing to do with you.

They told Sunnis that the fighting was with a Shiite group and was targeting the Shiite project (in the region)."

The United States has long branded Hezbollah a terrorist organisation.

Israel 'must take Nasrallah seriously' (http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Middle_East/10146944.html)