The Hezbollah will not Give USA Right of Inspection over its Arms

The statements issued to the newspaper an-Nahar by the U.S. deputy secretary of state in charge of the Middle East, Jeffrey Feltman, about the information regarding the delivery of Scud missiles to the Hezbollah by Syria, have been indignantly and skeptically received these last two days by some leaders of the Hezbollah. The latter, particularly, tried to minimize their influence on the decision of the party in avoiding to confirm and deny the information.

“What’s that got to do with the United States if we are arming ourselves or not?,” the deputy general-secretary of the Hezbollah, Cheikh Kassem, was asking himself yesterday.

“Who’s entitled to determine for us the quality and capacity of our arming? That point is strictly our matter, as we are defending our country as well as our dignity,” he added.

Addressing Mr. Feltman, he said, “Who assigned you to hold sway over the Lebanon and who told you that we care about your concern? Do you know that today the Lebanese are more peaceful than ever before because you have withdrawn from Lebanon, you and your close allies? We understand the problem with Feltman as he failed, for five years, in his attempt to turn Lebanon into an American farm,” added Cheikh Kassem.

Noting the irony in the words of the American official regarding the tripartite summit held in February in Damascus, which included the Iranian minister, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Syria’s Bachar el-Assad as well as the secretary-general of the Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, Kassem said, “By God’s grace we learned Feltman was worried about the repercussions of that tripartite meeting. That is to say, the meeting was positive and useful. We hope that concern will spread throughout Israel and to those who oppose our right to recover our land and dignity.”

A Very Dangerous Situation

During an interview* published on Saturday by an-Nahar, Feltman made harsh remarks regarding the information about the transfer of Scuds to the Hezbollah, asserting that the American administration is still trying hard to confirm the authenticity of the information.

“It will be a very serious situation if their statements are found to be true; then we have to study everything and do all that is in our power to change or to stop [this developing situation],” he said.

“We must take such a situation very seriously. Providing weapons to an organization whose work is conducted [by an agent] outside the State in the Middle East is a key issue, not a detail,” said the U.S. official. “We’re worried about what was reported to us. We’re worried about the arsenal the Hezbollah has and what it implies regarding the stability in the region as well as regarding the rule of law and the state of Lebanon.”

“From what the secretary-general of Hezbollah says, he admits or boasts that he possesses tens-of-thousands of rockets. Well, tens-of-thousands of rockets were not heaven-sent, but received from a specific place, and when these weapons are out of the boundaries of the Lebanon, Resolution 1701 of the Security Council is violated.”

Concerning the tripartite meeting in Damascus, Mr. Feltman firstly stressed that it does not help the American administration’s efforts to hold talks with Syria. “Those who accuse us of being naïve [concerning Syria] have found an argument against us in that meeting,” he said, referring to members of Congress opposed to any dialogue with Damascus.

“But there’s something else in this picture [the Summit of Damascus],” he went on. “If I were Lebanese, I would find it worrying. Hassan Nasrallah is not a head of state. Notwithstanding the disagreements between us and the Iranian and Syrian presidents, they are two heads of state representing their countries. But there’s a third person who is treated as if he were a head of state. And for all those who, like me, had the privilege to work or live in Lebanon, it’s grievous to have Hassan Nasrallah being treated like a head of state.”

“Concerning that point, I wonder what certain groups of Christians will think, [those] who believed that, by signing an agreement with the Hezbollah, their interests would be protected. But now, [they] notice that the Lebanon president, though Maronite [Lebanese Christian], is ignored, whereas the chief of the militia is treated like a head of state,” Mr. Feltman said, in a clear allusion to the document of agreement signed in 2006 between the CPL and the Hezbollah.

* Editor’s Note: We have not been able to verify that such an interview took place.