Region | Lebanon
Nasrallah: Unifil no issue as long as they don't disarm us
Hezbollah leader Nasrallah said yesterday that UN troops preparing to deploy in southern Lebanon would not encounter any problems as long as their mission did not involve disarming his fighters.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:00 August 28, 2006
- Image Credit: Reuters
- Nasrallah said he would welcome a meeting with Annan and that contacts had been made toward that end, but he added that nothing had been finalised for security reasons.
Beirut : Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said yesterday that UN troops preparing to deploy in southern Lebanon would not encounter any problems as long as their mission did not involve disarming his fighters.
"We have no problem with Unifil (UN Interim Force in Lebanon) as long as its mission is not aimed at disarming Hezbollah," Nasrallah said in an interview aired on Lebanese television.
Meeting with Annan
He added, however, that if Lebanese troops in southern Lebanon encountered armed militants, the national forces did have the right to collect weapons.
"If the Lebanese army encounters any armed person, it has the right to confiscate their weapons," he said.
He spoke with the Lebanese private television station NTV on the eve of a visit to Beirut by UN chief Kofi Annan.
Nasrallah said he would welcome a meeting with Annan and that contacts had been made toward that end, but he added that nothing had been finalised for security reasons.
Nasrallah expressed regret for the seizing of two Israeli soldiers that sparked the month-long war with Israel. "Had we known that the capture of the soldiers would lead to this, we would definitely not have done" it, he said.
He said "contacts" for negotiations on a prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah had already begun. "Contacts recently began for negotiations," he said, adding that Italy and the United Nations had expressed interest in helping to mediate.
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