Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Saniora stated Thursday that no contact was possible between Lebanon and Israel. "There is no contact and no possibility at all for contact with Israel," he said after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Moubarak in Cairo.
"The last war proved that Israel cannot be trusted. It does not take a real step towards a full and just peace and the application of United Nations and Security Council resolutions and the application of the Arab initiative," Saniora said.
Saniora added his government planned to stay in power as long as it had the approval of parliament, following criticism by Hizbullah.
"The current government will remain as long as it receives the trust of parliament," he said.
"Criticisms are normal," Saniora said. "Our country is a democratic country."
Two days ago Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah slammed Saniora's government accusing it of being an American tool and of failing to protect the country.
Nasrallah
Meanwhile, Nasrallah said his party still had a presence in south Lebanon one month after a U.N.-brokered ceasefire brought an end to hostilities with Israel.
"The resistance is present south of the Litani River and in the whole south of Lebanon," Nasrallah said in the second part of an interview with Al-Jazeera TV network Wednesday.
"We regret that Israeli officials lie to their people by saying they have ousted Hizbullah from south Lebanon and that they will not let it return," he said in Wednesday's broadcast.
"We are present at the border. Before July 12 (when the Israeli offensive began) we publicly set up surveillance posts which we have dismantled... but nobody can prevent us from being present on our territory or from defending our territory, our honor and our homeland," he said.
He said he didn't regret the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hizbullah fighters. "We thank God that we kidnapped the two soldiers…We are not regretful or sorry," he said.
