Sayyed Nasrallah Calls for National Unity Gov’t: Not to Join Gov’t without Berri

Zeinab Essa

Hizbullah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah delivered a speech Friday, in which he tackled a number of political files.

Addressing a crowd of people commemorating the death anniversary of the Resistance leader Hajj Mustafa Shahadah, Sayyed Nasrallah hailed the heroic traits of the commander.

"Leader Shahadah was one of the main contributors of establishing the Resistance," he stated, noting that he was in chief of the Resistance in Western Beirut.

Revealing some aspects of Shahadah's life, His Eminence hailed the lion who protected Hizbullah's den in Beirut.

"He was present in 1987 when the Syrian military forces entered Beirut during the civil war and the painful "Fethullah" incident took place leading to the martyrdom of 18 of our young men," he stated.

Back to the incident, Sayyed Nasrallah uncovered the following: "Our young people were killed in the Fathallah massacre by Syrian soldiers who were given orders to do that."

In parallel, he mentioned that as lot provocation took place. However, commander Shehadeh, who was able via a word or bullet to burn the whole region, was characterized by patient and being committed to the decision of Hizbullah's leadership, which met and decided patience in order to prevent sedition.

Sayyed Nasrallah further pointed out that "in the previous era, some in the Syrian administration in Lebanon sought to fabricate a sedition with Hizbullah, unlike the strategy of the late President Hafez al-Assad who stressed the presence of resistance."

"There were those who want to provoke a rift between Hizbullah and the Lebanese army," he said, recalling the incident of the airport bridge.

Moving to the Lebanese political front, the Resistance Leader welcomed the election of the Lebanese President General Michael Aoun.

"We are relieved because the man residing in the Baabda Palace is a leader. Since we supported the nomination of General Michel Aoun we did so from the door of confidence... what exists between us and His Excellency General Aoun, the president is a relation of confidence," he said.

His Eminence went on to say that "This is enough for us because he is a man and a leader of honest. He is a brave, patriotic and national figure and a mountain which is not bought and sold."

According to Hizbullah Secretary General, "After the election of a president, now there is a chance to say that we in Hizbullah faced a lot of injustice and false accusations throughout two and a half years, and I hope those who launched false accusations will reevaluate their stances."

"From the very first moment, we were honest in our stance and in our support for the normal candidate Michel Aoun and in the fact that we wanted the election of a president. We wanted this man to become president and we did not change our stance for a single moment," he added.

In addition, Sayyed Nasrallah called on those who had accused Hizbullah of attempting to prolong the presidential vacuum to re-examine their stances after Monday's election.

"The false claims that we didn't want General Aoun as president were misleading," His Eminence stated, affirming that "Hizbullah does not deceive or lie."
Moreover, he slammed the fact that some political powers took credit for facilitating the elections.

"We have been saying since the crisis began that they should agree with Aoun," he stressed.

As Sayyed Nasrallah called on rival Lebanese parties to work together to build a state, he asked all sides to have a positive attitude in the new era.

He further praised House Speaker Nabih Berri for the role he played in managing the Oct. 31 presidential elections, His Eminence called for forming a productive government.

"Speaker Berri is a major guarantee and everyone who disagreed with him over the presidency must realize this," he mentioned.

But Sayyed Nasrallah announced that Hizbullah wouldn't join any government that Berri isn't part of. "We won't join the next government if Speaker Berri and the AMAL Movement do not take part in it and Speaker Berri is authorized to negotiate over portfolios and shares on behalf of both Amal movement and Hizbullah."

"We must thoroughly recognize the major positive role that Speaker Berri played and his delicate administration of this juncture. He could have stripped the session of its quorum but he was firm in his stance to continue the session and he prepared a congratulatory speech," he said.

Meanwhile, His Eminence hailed the noble Minister Suleiman Franjieh, who had the opportunity after his nomination by the Future Movement to be elected.

"However, he was committed to us," His Eminence added, explaining that the allies have boycotted the parliament sessions with us and Minister Franjieh boycotted the sessions in which he could have been elected as a President of the Republic.

"Minister Franjieh remained committed. He can be trusted with the country, the people and the state," he said.

Sayyed Nasrallah also called for the formation of a national unity government, praising caretaker Prime Minister Tammam Salam over his "patience and running the country's crises with minimum losses."

On another level, Sayyed Nasrallah rejected allegations that the recent Yemeni missile attack against Saudi Arabia was aimed at Islam's holiest and most revered site.

"The propaganda claiming that the Yemenis fired a Ballistic rocket at Mecca is a big sarcastic lie," he stated.

Source: Al-Ahed news