Nasrallah urges Lebanese not to squander chance to resolve crisis

Source: Daily Star, 10-3-2007

BEIRUT: Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Friday that Lebanon is at a "new juncture" and called on all the Lebanese to give this new opportunity "a chance" to end the four-month-old political deadlock in Lebanon. During the commemoration of the passing of the 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, the Prophet Mohammad`s grandson, Nasrallah saluted the arrival of the 100th day for the sit-in in Downtown to bring down the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora with a vow for the sit-in to "continue"
"You have performed a true national duty," Nasrallah told hundreds of supporters as they watched his speech through a live broadcast at the sit-in.
"We are now facing a new opportunity for a political solution," he said.
Nasrallah said both "internal" and "regional" circumstances are now in favor of Lebanon
"We are now in a better situation than at any time before," he said, thanking "brother Arab and Islamic nations" for their mediatory efforts to resolve the Lebanese crisis.
"But it is essential that the solution comes from within Lebanon, and that it is based on the principle of no victor or vanquished by the end of the negotiations," said Nasrallah.
However, Nasrallah stressed that there will be "no solution without compromise."
"There will be further escalations," he warned if such a compromise doesn`t occur.
"I call on certain authorities in the ruling party not to hamper these new initiatives, as it would be a shame to lose this chance," said Nasrallah.
"A meeting on a table with 50 officials will not achieve any results," he said, "but bilateral meetings will bring a solution."
As he spoke, an announcement was broadcasted that opposition leader Speaker Nabih Berri was meeting for the second time with Future Movement leader Saad Hariri at Berri`s residence in Ain al-Tineh.
Nasrallah warned certain leaders in the ruling party against counting on "Israel" or the US.
"They will fail you as they are failures," said Nasrallah about the US and "Israel".
Nasrallah also quoted Premier Ehud Olmert who was quoted by "Israeli" media that "Israel" began planning for war in Lebanon "months" before the actual summer 2006 war.
"The truth came out from the mouth of our enemy," he said, "and more truth will be exposed in due time."
Sayyed Nasrallah accused "those [Lebanese] who went to Washington and called on the US to send "Israel" to Lebanon to destroy Hizbullah and implement Resolution 1559" of starting the conflict.