Hizbullah leader turns down Israeli offer
Lebanon-Israel, Politics, 1/12/1998

The leader of the militant Hizbullah guerrilla group on Sunday turned down an Israeli offer to withdraw from south Lebanon in return for security guarantees that Israeli towns would not be attacked.

"We should be careful of Zionist and American landmines. The (Israeli) offer, in its political essence, is a big trap we must be aware of," Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hizbullah, said.

Nasrallah, who spoke at a rally held in his honor in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, was referring to comments published recently by Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai in which he said Israel was willing to implement United Nations Resolution 425 in return for guarantees it would not be attacked.

The resolution, which was adopted in 1978 after the first Israeli invasion of Lebanon, calls on Israel to withdraw its troops from south Lebanon, unconditionally.

It was the first time an Israeli official referred directly to resolution 425, but Lebanese officials have dismissed the withdrawal offer. Foreign Minister Fares Boueiz has said that Lebanon would not be "fooled" by the offer while House Speaker Nabih Berri said it was an attempt at separating the Syrian and Lebanese tracks in peace talks with Israel.

"There will be no negotiations, no discussion of strategies, arrangements or security guarantees" until Israel withdraws its troops from the south, Nasrallah said Sunday.

He added that the Islamic resistance "is capable, through the continuation of Jihad (holy war), to force the enemy to withdraw unconditionally from the south.

"All that concerns us is an Israeli unconditional withdrawal from south Lebanon, and certainly without prizes or rewards," Nasrallah said.

Previous Stories:
  Lebanese leaders cast off Mordechai comments   (1/6/1998)
  Israel decides to stay in Lebanon   (11/20/1997)
  Hizbullah forms new military group to fight Israel   (11/4/1997)

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