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Friday, March 11, 2005

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  Hezbollah, which took center stage with a massive demonstration in central Beirut this week, is trying to present itself as a Lebanese nationalist group despite its ties to Iran and Syria.

"We are not an arm for anyone. We are a Lebanese party with its own convictions and aspirations," Kassem said in an interview. "We don't take orders from anyone and we don't accept to follow any state in the world. We are not a tool in anybody's hand."

Hezbollah has been involved in Lebanese politics for over a decade and has nine members in the current legislature, whose term expires in May. But it has steered away from the major decision-making as its guerrilla army focused on fighting Israel, earning itself wide respect among Lebanese.

Hezbollah has largely sat on the fence since the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri plunged Lebanon in political and security instability. But a Syrian troop withdrawal that began this week has forced Hezbollah to show its hand.

"The party has decided to be more active in entering internal political life so that its experience could be used to save Lebanon after all the complexities which have emerged on the political level," Kassem said.

"We have realized that (recent) developments have brought Lebanon to a situation where we are required to speak out on everything on the internal (political) level. This will increase the size of our participation in the political life," he said.

This week Hezbollah sided with the pro-Syrian government by convening a demonstration of about 500,000 people in Beirut to protest international calls led by the United States for Syria to withdraw its 14,000 troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon.

The rally dwarfed anti-Syrian and anti-government protests that had been taking place in the capital the past three weeks.

Kassem said by throwing Hezbollah's weight into the central arena of Lebanese politics the group would be able "to influence the general political vision and the general picture" in the country.

"We felt that Lebanon today is at a crossroad, and this requires that we be more active internally," Kassem said.

The demand for Syria to leave Lebanon are spelled out in U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, which also calls for the disarming of militias in Lebanon - a clear reference to Hezbollah's military wing.

Hezbollah fought Israeli soldiers until they withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000. It continues to launch occasion attacks against Israeli troops in a disputed parcel of land on the southern Lebanese border.

Hezbollah has refused to disarm, saying its weapons are to defend Lebanon from any possible Israeli attack.

© 2005 The Associated Press

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