Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday that his group would retaliate "within minutes" against any Israeli attack on a Lebanese water pumping station at the Wazzani River.
"I announce the following: Hizbullah and its military operations room have been informed that any aggression against Wazzani (pumping station) will be answered in a swift, firm and decisive way," said Nasrallah, one day before Lebanon was due to start pumping from the southern river to dry villages.
"The response will be very quick, and I am not exaggerating if I say within minutes. We won't wait hours or days... As I talk to you now Hizbullah is in full readiness and mobilisation to carry out its legitimate, moral and religious duty," he told a student gathering in Beirut.
Washington has mediated in the dispute to avert a regional
flareup and UN Middle East peace coordinator Terje Roed-Larsen met with Lebanese officials on Monday to try to ease the tensions. "The goal is to get both sides to agree on a peaceful resolution of the problem," said Paul Patin, U.S. Embassy spokesman in Israel.
Nasrallah criticized the United Nations, saying it had “stepped in late despite Lebanon’s repeated requests” that the world body intervene. He warned that any Israeli decision to strike the Wazzani would essentially open the northern frontline between the two enemy states, Lebanon and Israel, once again.
Hizbullah had already chosen its targets and "our brothers know how to act", he said. "They will need no more than a two-second phone call," Nasrallah aired.
Nasrallah praised the Lebanese people, government, army and security agencies for having a united stance on the Wazzani issue: “I haven’t read any Lebanese position that denies our right to the Wazzani water.”
Even if the Wazzani water pumping is successful, the Hizbullah leader said that the Lebanese should not think that “the battle is over.”
“The victory (of launching the project),” he said, “should not make us forget that we have a pumping station that now is at risk (of being destroyed) under any circumstances.”
He concluded: “This enemy should understand that we are on the alert and that our determination will not wane. “Such alertness will constitute the true immunity, protection and shield for this country and its dignity.”(Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
