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Lebanon: No link between al-Qaeda and Hezbollah says Nasrallah |
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Written by News Editor
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Thursday, 03 January 2008 |
Lebanon news, Lebanese radio
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Beirut
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Beirut, 3 Jan. (AKI) - The leader of Hezbollah, Hasan Nasrallah, has hit out against recent statements allegedly by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden criticising the militant Lebanese Shia movement for allowing "crusader" troops from the United Nations into Lebanon after the 34-day conflict with Israel in 2006.
"The criticism that Osama bin Laden made in his last message proves that we are different," he said in an interview aired on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television channel.
"He has the right to criticise us but not to offend us," he said in the two-hour interview aired on Wednesday night.
An 56-minute audio message purportedly by bin Laden was released on Islamist websites on 29 December in which the al-Qaeda leader accused Nasrallah of aiding Israel by accepting the deployment of United Nations Interim Force in South Lebanon (UNIFIL) troops in South Lebanon.
"UNIFIL troops were deployed in 2006 to protect 'Jews,'" the al-Qaeda leader said.
During the interview with Nasrallah, aired by Al Manar on Wednesday night, the Hezbollah leader also spoke about the current political crisis in Lebanon over the presidential vote, which has been postponed for the 11th time.
Emile Lahoud stepped down as Lebanese president in November without a successor
A new parliament session has been set for 12 January.
Nasrallah also touched on the negotiations for the release of Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped in 2006.
However when asked about his reaction to bin Laden's criticism of Hezbollah, Nasrallah said that his group was "left hanging in the middle."
"Some criticise us from one side, and others from the opposite end. I don't want to comment on his [bin Laden's] statement, because sometimes when a debate is opened it ends up being a competition, and we have nothing to gain by this," he said.
"I know that this is a useless fight and I do not want to enter into a competition with him," he said.
However the Hezbollah leader took the occasion to distance himself and his group from the international terrorist network.
"It's enough for me to say that he has a vision and an opinion and what he said is useful for me and Hezbollah because we have always said that Hezbollah is different from al-Qaeda and we have no links," he said.
"After 11 September [the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States], Israel has been trying to find a link between Hezbollah and al-Qaeda to implicate us in the attacks of 11 September," said Nasrallah.
But the Israelis "have not been able to provide any proof because in reality, we are not linked. On top of that we have a different vision from al-Qaeda on the issues of resistance and Jihad, and how to classify people and political issues," he said.
"The criticisms have done nothing but prove this: the fact that there really exists two visions, two thoughts and two directions," said Nasrallah.
Nasrallah was the only Arab leader to have had a military victory against the Israeli army, he added.
"We have fought in Lebanon since 1982, and we inflicted the first defeat against Israel in 2000. Since 2006, it's the defeat that is still talked about inside the Knesset [Israeli parliament] and the entire Arab world can see this," he said.
"But when we took the decision on the UNIFIL force and on Resolution 1701, we did so because we are in Lebanon where there are very clear interests," he added refering to the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which increased the UN peacekeeping force in South Lebanon to almost 13,000 troops and ended the July 2006 war with Israel.
"We have maintained our position: we have accepted some things and have rejected others, always clearly having the same interests and the same vision," he said.
"If he [bin Laden] does not agree with us, he is free to do so, if he wants to criticise us, he can do that too. But no one has the right to offend us," said Nasrallah. |
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