Hizbullah hits back at US terror listing
Lebanon, International, 10/10/1997

The Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group issued a statement Thursday in which it lashed out at the United States and warned it not to take action against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

The Hezbollah statement was in response to U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's designation of the militant group as one of 30 terrorist organizations in the world. The list included 13 Islamic organiations in the Middle East along with two Israeli groups.

Albright took steps Wednesday to block fund raising, freeze assets and punish U.S. financial backers of organizations on the list, no matter what the money is used for. "We have absolutely no doubt of the American administration's sponsorship of organized international terrorism," said the Hezbollah statement.

"Therefore, we warn of any measures resulting from this list. The Americans should not fall into the trap of the terrorist Zionist instigation because it will have dire consequences," it added.

Hezbollah, which leads a war of attrition in south Lebanon to evict Israeli troops from a border zone Israel has occupied since 1985, said "real terrorism is embodied today in Israel, which breaks international law and norms."

Tyre MP Abdullah Qassir, a Hizbullah member, said on October 9 that a US offer to remove wartime mines "aims to dilute the war of attrition launched by the resistance fighters against Israeli troops in the south of Lebanon."

It said the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon and daily attacks on civilians amounted to terrorism, as did the American administration's silence on those terrorist practices.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah, or party of God, was responsible during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, for the kidnapping of many Westerners in Beirut.

Hizbullah said the list "was an example of Zionist instigation and racist classification of peoples." It said Washington was "unqualified" to make such a classification, "because it is a big elephant being dragged obediently by a dirty Zionist rat."

Hizbullah said that the listing was "an affirmation of aggressive intentions and the satanic spirit of insolence and arrogance which flows in the blood of the American administration."

Previous Stories:
  More details on the four Israelis killed 13 wounded   (10/9/1997)
  Hizbullah calls for expulsion of US ambassador   (10/4/1997)
  Hizbullah trains with Hamas militants in Lebanon   (10/4/1997)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search