Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., February 10, 2010 Shvat 26, 5770 | | Israel Time: 06:29 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Jewish World Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Focus U.S.A. Strenger than Fiction Business Travel Magazine Week's End Anglo File Books Haaretz Store
Share |
Last update - 00:00 24/01/2006
Hezbollah urges Lebanon to deflect UN pressure to disarm group
By Reuters
 

BEIRUT - Lebanon should respond to UN Security Council pressure to disarm Hezbollah by firmly stating it is a group defending the country against Israel, not a militia, Hezbollah's first cabinet minister said on Tuesday.

The 15-member council demanded again on Monday that the Lebanese government should disarm Hezbollah's guerrillas in line with resolution the council adopted 16 months ago.

"This is a continuation of the American pressure to achieve the goal of enabling Israel to continue to occupy (Lebanese and Arab) territories and to expose Lebanon to Israeli schemes," Energy and Water Minister Mohammed Fneish said.
Advertisement
"It is an insult to all Lebanese that the resistance is called a militia. If we tell them this is a resistance and not a militia, it'll prevent such interference in our affairs," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Fneish's call is central to a government crisis that saw him and four other Shi'ite Muslim ministers boycott cabinet sessions in December. They linked their return to a demand that Hezbollah's armed wing be considered legitimate and not a militia that must disarm.

The ministers, all pro-Syrian, suspended attending cabinet sessions over a cabinet vote calling on the UN inquiry into last year's assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri to include other political killings.

Hezbollah was instrumental in ending Israel's 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000. But calls for its disarmament have grown louder since its Syrian allies withdrew from Lebanon in April amid an international outcry over Hariri's murder.

Fneish also condemned the UN council's call on Lebanon to conduct fair and free presidential elections to replace President Emile Lahoud, a pro-Syrian, who secured a three-year extension of his mandate in 2004 under pressure from Damascus.

"This is an attempt to shake our stability. The Security Council has no business interfering in a domestic constitutional matter," he said. There was no comment from Lahoud's office.

Many in Lebanon believe Syria's pressure to renew the president's term sparked a head-on collision with Hariri that led to his death. Damascus has denied any role but the UN inquiry has already implicated senior Syrian officials
PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Wiesel's petition
Nobel winner says he wouldn't cry if Ahmadinejad were killed , and has signed on it.
Heckling Michael Oren
Muslim students scream 'killer' during Israeli envoy's lecture at the University of California.
Special Offers
Advertisement
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Shalom Hartman Institute Jerusalem
This Summer in Jerusalem Learn about the "Other". Special Prices Until Feb. 15
100% Pure Dead Sea Salt
Lowest price in the U.S.A. for genuine Dead Sea Salts
Online forex trading now with
the security of a Swiss bank
Best Passover Vacations Under the Sun in Florida, Arizona, Mexico.
Resort Vacations. All the traditions of Passover. Glatt Kosher
Your Aliyah starts here.
Nefesh B'Nefesh Aliyah Workshops and Personal Meetings in your area
Camp Kimama Israel - Summer 2010
An incredible experience with Jewish youth from all over the world
 Haaretz Hot Topics
Exclusive: EU draft on dividing Jerusalem
Gilad Shalit
Settlement Freeze
Iran nuclear program
More Headlines
03:25 Israel: Gaza crossing to stay shut as long as Hamas in power
03:40 Defense Minister and IDF chief at loggerheads over Ashkenazi's future
04:58 Like Netanyahu, Barak wants second shot as prime minister
05:53 Lebanese Prime Minister: Israeli 'threat' escalating
05:26 Obama: Iran sanctions in weeks over nuclear program
04:55 Israeli-Palestinian peace would neutralize Iran threat
06:09 Israeli academics reject university status for settlement college
02:31 TV ROUND-UP: West promises Iran sanctions, Violence breaks out in East Jerusalem
02:42 Israel strikes Gaza in response to Qassam rockets
23:47 'Israel may free Palestinian prisoners when peace talks resume'
03:23 Suspected Jewish terrorist admits to anti-missionary activities
05:10 Family says Israeli man died after hospital staff ignored doctor's note
22:32 6 hurt in West Bank clashes between Palestinians, settlers
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
| Advert: Recommended Restaurants | Makom: Engaging on Israel
| Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved