Nasrallah in forefront of Hezbollah victory rally

[ECH1969]

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah told a massive rally of supporters in southern Beirut Friday that his party will never forcibly surrender its weapons.

Nasrallah told hundreds of thousands of supporters that his militant group possesses more than 20,000 rockets, and that it will never give up its weapons until Lebanon is capable of defending itself from Israel.

Nasrallah said the United Nations peacekeeping force was unlikely to hurt his weapons cache, which he said was larger now than before the beginning of the 34-day conflict with Israel.

As he celebrated what his group calls its "divine victory," he also said he would not release two Israeli soldiers, whose capture triggered the month-long war that ended August 14.

http://story.northkoreatimes.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/79987863812e881f/

[Scurrilous]

1. Lebanon Throng Hails Hezbollah Chief, Who Calls Militia Stronger

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"Hundreds of thousands of people stood Friday and chanted “God, God, protect Nasrallah.” It was the moment they had waited for: Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in person, declaring that his militia was stronger than ever and that no army in the world could force it to disarm.

This was Sheik Nasrallah’s first public appearance since the war with Israel started in July, and it was steeped in defiance: at Israel, the United States, Arab heads of state and those political forces in Lebanon aiming to clip Hezbollah’s political and military power.

If there was any thought the war weakened Hezbollah, Sheik Nasrallah had a different message: “It is stronger.” Even after Israel’s 34-day bombardment of Lebanon, Hezbollah, he said, still has more than 20,000 missiles. “Not a single army in the world will be able to dismantle our resistance,” Sheik Nasrallah said, as he stood beneath a big banner that read “The Victory Rally.” “No army in the world will be able to make us drop the weapons from our hands.”

The crowd was mammoth, packing every corner of the 37-acre square in the southern suburbs of Beirut. There was a plastic chair for nearly everyone, and a baseball cap for protection from the sun. Hezbollah’s martial choir belted out chest thumping music. The crowds waved flags, wildly cheering for Sheik Nasrallah, who has become a folk hero to many here and throughout the Arab world. The audience came on foot, by car and by bus from the south and the north, and in every case, people said they came because Sheik Nasrallah asked them to."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/23/world/middleeast/23lebanon.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin