Nasrallah says resistance will keep its weapons until government is 'strong, just and capable'

BEIRUT: Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told hundreds of thousands of supporters gathered for a "Divine Victory" rally Friday that Hizbullah would not disarm until the right conditions were in place - and demanded a national unity government in a blow to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and the international community.

In his first public appearance since the recent month-long war with Israel sparked on July 12 by the capture of two Israeli soldiers, Nasrallah said the resistance would only hand over its weapons once Lebanon becomes "a strong, just and capable country."

"There is no army in the world capable of making us drop our weapons as long as there will be people who believe in this resistance," he said. "We don't want to keep our weapons forever and they will never be used against anyone inside Lebanon. These are not Shiite weapons but the weapons of all the religions and the Lebanese and will protect Lebanon's independence and sovereignty."

Nasrallah said disarming Hizbullah "under this government ... means leaving Lebanon exposed before Israel to kill and detain and bomb whoever they want, and clearly we will not accept that."

"When we build a strong and just state that is capable of protecting the nation and the citizens, we will easily find an honorable solution to the resistance issue and its arms," he added.

"Tears don't protect anyone," Nasrallah said in a barbed refer-ence to Siniora, who openly wept several times when describing the destruction of Lebanon during the war.

The resistance leader also claimed that his party now possesses 20,000 rockets, despite having fired more than 4,000 of them at northern Israel during 34 days of fighting.

Nasrallah vowed to the hundreds of thousands of supporters gathered in Beirut's southern suburbs that a beefed-up United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) would not affect Hizbullah's ability to stock weapons.

"Blockade the borders and the seas and the skies," he said. "This will not weaken the will of the resistance or the weapons of the resistance."

He also warned UN peacekeepers who are deploying in Southern Lebanon as Israeli forces withdraw not to seek a confrontation with Hizbullah.

"Your mission is not to spy on Hizbullah or to disarm the resistance," he said.

One of Israel's stated aims in the war was to eliminate Hizbullah's capacity to fire rockets into its northern territory.

"We were ready for a long war," Nasrallah said. "The resistance in a few days was able to rearm itself and is now stronger than it was on July 12."

Nasrallah also lashed out at Siniora and the March 14 Forces, who want Hizbullah to disarm and integrate into the Lebanese political scene.

The Sayyed described Siniora's Cabinet as weak and incapable of protecting and defending Lebanon against Israel and doubted its ability to reconstruct what Israel has destroyed.

"We don't want to eliminate the presence of anyone from public life. What we are calling for is a national unity government. This is not a slogan; this is a serious project we will work for very hard," said the leader of Hizbullah, which has two representatives in the Cabinet.

A short statement issued by prime minster Siniora's office said Nasrallah's focus "on the dialogue in his speech is a good and constructive thing and opens future horizons." It did not elaborate.