Channels

Photo: AFP
'Government illegitimate.' Hassan Nasrallah
Photo: AFP
Photo: Reuters
'Taking orders from US.' Siniora
Photo: Reuters

Nasrallah: We’ll continue protest until demands met

Hizbullah leader tells demonstrators in Beirut, 'Those who think we will surrender are deluding themselves'; accuses Siniora of conniving with Israel during war

Hizbullah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech to demonstrators in Beirut that the Lebanese opposition will not stop its protest until the group's demands are met.

 

"Those that think that we will surrender are deluding themselves," said Nasrallah, who spoke to protesters from the bunker in which he is staying since the second Lebanese war.

 

Nasrallah accused Siniora of conniving with Israel during the war, alleging that he ordered the Lebanese army to confiscate Hizbullah's supplies of weapons.

 

''Didn't the prime minister of Lebanon work to cut off the supply lines?'' asked Nasrallah.

 

Nasrallah also accused Siniora of taking orders from the US and called for a committee of Lebanese or Arab judges to investigate the government's actions during the Israeli-Hizbullah war.

 

Some protesters, waving flags and chanting anti-government slogans, rallied just 150 meters (492 feet) from the Lebanese parliament complex; Siniora and a few of his ministers are inside.

 

“Siniora out; we want a free government,” the demonstrators called out. 

 


Nasrallah delivers speech during mass protest in Beirut (Photo: AFP)

 

The Western-backed Siniora, who is supported by the anti-Syrian majority in parliament, has repeatedly refused to resign and has rejected the demand by Hizbullah and its pro-Syrian allies for a veto-wielding share of the Cabinet.

 

"Negotiate with us and we will talk to you," Nasrallah said, addressing what he called the "Illegitimate government."

 

"But in the name of all those gathered here, we will not leave the streets before achieving the goal that saves Lebanon," he said, to roars of approval from the crowd.

 

Hizbullah and their political allies are demanding a "national unity government" in which Shiites will be represented by at least a third. If this is achieved, Hizbullah will have veto power over important decisions in the Lebanese cabinet that require at least a two-thirds vote to pass.

 

Hizbullah would also be able to topple the government because under Lebanese law if a third of the government quits, the government automatically falls.

 

Lebanon's army deployed more soldiers in Beirut on Monday after the killing of a pro-Syrian Shiite Muslim demonstrator raised fears anti-government protests could turn into sectarian violence.

 

The body of Ahmed Mahmoud was brought to the protest site, where thousands of anti-government demonstrators read Koranic verses over a coffin wrapped in a Lebanese flag.

 

Opposition forces in Lebanon, headed by Hizbullah, have called for yet another mass rally to be held this coming Sunday, during which thousands of protesters are set to join the sit-in in central Beirut to try to topple the government.

 

“Sunday will be a historic day, when the legitimate demands regarding the participation in a unity government are met,” the opposition leaders said in a joint statement.

 

Political analysts said the scheduled rally serves as proof that the previous demonstrations, which began last Friday, have not yielded the results Hizbullah had expected. 

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.07.06, 21:24
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment