Introduction

Hizbullah’s Secretary General H.E. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah reiterated his promise Sunday that any eventual prisoners exchange would not include only Lebanese, but also Palestinians and others Arabs along with Iranians held by “Israel”. “If not, we are telling them that we are ready to capture other soldiers to reach a just settlement to this issue”, he said.

In the meantime, a member of Hizbullah Mohammad Bdeir, 30, was released after being released from an “Israeli” jail after serving a 10-year jail term.

However, the “Israeli” enemy airplanes breached Lebanese airspace Sunday breaking the sound barrier over several towns including Beirut, a police source said.

Nasrallah threatens to abduct more “Israelis”
Hizbullah leader warns that Jewish state still hasn’t gotten the message…(1)

Hizbullah’s secretary-general warned “Israel” on Sunday that the resistance would capture more “Israeli” military personnel to achieve its goal of releasing all those detained in “Israel”.
“I say to Barak: If you reject our just and fair conditions, and if you want to convince us that the soldiers whom we are holding are not sufficient to release the prisoners,” Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said, “we will have to work anew to capture more of your soldiers and officers.”
The Hizbullah leader predicted that the issue of “Israel” regaining its three captured soldiers and an intelligence officer would gain increasing attention in the run-up to “Israeli” elections, scheduled for Feb. 6. His remarks came hours after “Israel” released a Hizbullah member who had served a 10-year sentence in the Jewish state.
Nasrallah was addressing the opening ceremony of a conference on supporting Al-Quds organized by Hizbullah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Islamic National Conference. The three-day conference’s working sessions will kick off on Monday.
Nasrallah also called on religious leaders to issue a fatwa, or religious decree, that would require Arab-”Israelis” to abstain from participating in “Israel’s” upcoming elections.
He focused on the importance of the intifada and of rejecting negotiations with “Israel”, which he said have failed.
“It shouldn’t matter if Sharon or someone else wins,” Nasrallah said. “We’ve become used to these things.”
He said regional events proved that the Arab world was headed toward a confrontation with “Israel”.
“If we want to discuss how to regain Al-Quds and protect the holy sites there, what should we do so that we are not surprised one day by the news that Al-Aqsa Mosque has been destroyed by a Zionist who is mentally unstable,” Nasrallah warned, calling for “complete involvement in the intifada and the resistance.”
“This means at all levels, from fighting normalization (with “Israel”), to popular mobilization, completely isolating “Israel” at the official and popular levels, to armed action,” he urged, as those in the audience clapped enthusiastically and occasionally interrupted him with cries of “Allahu Akbar.”
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, speaking in Oman on Sunday, said the “resistance will continue until the end of occupation” but stressed the need for “preserving stability in the region,” a day after “Israeli” forces killed two Palestinian fighters and wounded a third near the Shibaa Farms.
“We don’t want any incidents on the border,” Hariri added, “but we will not waive our right to the Shibaa Farms.”
Minister of State Pierre Helou, who represented Hariri at the conference, said he hoped that achieving the conference’s goal ­ announcing the birth of Al-Quds Institution ­ would mean facing “Israeli” policies in a practical way and supporting the Palestinian resistance.
Helou stressed the importance of an Arab Islamic Institution that would work in all fields within Palestine, the region and the world to help restore Arab rights. The minister also called for Islamic and Christian religious institutions to “create a unified vision” regarding Al-Quds. Over the next few days, conference participants will discuss reports on the situation in Al-Quds and devote a considerable amount of time discussing the creation of Al-Quds Institution.
Abdullah Ahmar, the Baath Party’s deputy secretary-general, said that Damascus “reinforced and sponsored” the resistance by its attachment to Arabs’ rights vis-a-vis “Israel”. Also on hand for the conference was the head of Hamas’ politburo, Khaled Meshaal.
Meshaal argued that “Al-Quds is not subject to negotiations,” adding that resistance in the Holy City was the “key to the conflict” until the liberation of Palestine.
Ali Akbar Mohtashemi, an Iranian MP and the head of the Islamic Conference to Support the Palestinian Intifada, told the audience that “all occupied Palestinian lands, including Al-Quds, are an indivisible part of the Islamic world ­ no party can make compromises over a single inch of this land.”
Also on hand was the speaker of Yemen’s Parliament, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein al-Ahmar, who said Al-Quds was “the leading issue for Arab and Muslim leaders.”

“Israelis” release Hizbullah man after 10 years…(2)

A Hizbullah member was released from an “Israeli” prison on Sunday after serving a 10-year sentence.
Mohammed Bdeir, 30, was accompanied by Henri Fournier, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who handed him over to his mother and Hizbullah’s commander in the South, Sheikh Nabil Qaouk.
Bdeir was imprisoned in 1991 for staging an attack on an “Israeli” Army post in Naqoura.
His release was conducted without previous publicity and Qaouk refused to give details about the operation.
About 250 people lined up along the road to greet Bdeir, with most of them carrying Hizbullah flags and shouting: “Happy return, happy return to a hero.”
On seeing Bdeir, his mother Haniya threw her arms around him and broke down in tears as his seven brothers and sisters gathered around.
Qaouk embraced the released prisoner and put a flower necklace around his neck.
Haniya said Hizbullah informed her at 10pm on Saturday night that Mohammed would be freed on Sunday.
“If Hizbullah had not captured “Israeli” soldiers, they wouldn’t have freed my son,” Haniya said. ““Israel” only understands the language of violence.”
Hizbullah is holding three “Israeli” soldiers it captured in October in the occupied Shibaa Farms, along with a reservist colonel. The group has said it will exchange the “Israelis” for Arab prisoners held by “Israel”, including Sheikh Abdel-Karim Obeid and Mustafa Dirani.
Bdeir, who spoke with a weary voice, thanked Hizbullah’s secretary-general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and members of the resistance, and said he hoped the rest of the prisoners would be released.

“Israeli” planes break sound barrier over Beirut…(3)

“ The “Israeli” air force breached Lebanese airspace Sunday, breaking the sound barrier over several towns, including Beirut, police said.

Lebanon has lodged several complaints with the United Nations over recent months about “Israeli” plans breaching its airspace.

Hizbullah MP criticizes U.S. pressures on Lebanon…(4)

Lebanese MP Mohammed Raad, head of Hizbullah parliamentary bloc, "Loyalty", considered that "the economic siege imposed on Lebanon, inflation, and the closure of international markets against Lebanese products in due to U.S. policy aiming at pushing Lebanon to engage itself into making peace with "“Israel”" according to “Israeli” conditions.

Bastara family packs it in again after latest shelling incident…(5)

The embattled Zohra family has once again abandoned their home in Bastara on the edge of the Shibaa Farms after “Israeli” tanks and helicopters pounded the vicinity on Friday night.
Qassem Zohra, a goatherd who lived with 11 relatives in a tiny stone hovel, packed the family’s meager belongings into the back of his truck on Saturday morning and drove 5 kilometers along a rutted track to the safety of Kfar Shuba.
“You could die there and no one would know. I don’t want this to happen to my children,” Zohra said.
Zohra is struggling to find alternative grazing for his 800 goats, as well as shelter from the bitter winter nights.
“It’s too cold for them to stay out at night. But I’m having trouble finding a place where I can keep them all together,” he said.
Zohra said that the shelling on Friday night finally persuaded him that living in Bastara had become too dangerous.
“The shells were exploding 300 meters from our house. We could hear the shrapnel hitting the roof. The children hid under the mattresses because they were so scared,” he said.
The Zohra family previously left their home earlier this month after “Israeli” mortar fire struck the farmstead, killing over 60 of their goats. The family returned a week later when Zohra was unable to find fresh grazing for his goats.
“I would rather die in Bastara that be told constantly ‘we have no room for you,’” he said. “But it has become too dangerous for the children to remain there. Everyday, the “Israelis” shoot at them.”
Zohra called on UNIFIL to set up a permanent observation post beside the farm.
“The main difficulty is finding someone to communicate with the “Israelis” to tell them to stop,” he said. “That’s the UN’s job but they’re not doing it. We really need a UN position in Bastara. Then the “Israelis” will think twice about shooting at us.”
UNIFIL spokesman Timur Goksel said orders had been given to the Indian battalion to increase patrols in the area. He added that UNIFIL’s commander, Major General Seth Kofi Obeng, discussed the latest shelling with the head of the “Israeli” Army’s northern command, Brigadier General Gaby Ashkenazi, on Sunday.
“We are discussing what can be done about this very dangerous situation,” Goksel said.
Obeng and Goksel are expected to raise the possibility of establishing a permanent post in Bastara with President Emile Lahoud on Monday.

A Palestinian collaborator with the “Israeli” Occupation killed in West Bank…(6)

Security sources in the West Bank town of Nablus said that a suspected Palestinian collaborator with the “Israeli” occupation has been shot dead Saturday.

On the other hand, the Internal “Israeli” Security Apparatus, Shin Beit, arrested this week six Palestinians members of Force 17, a special unit responsible for the security of Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat.

"“Israel”" Radio claimed that those arrested participated in attacks against Jewish settlers.

“Israeli” Prime Minister Ehud Barak said that all those who attack or plan to hit “Israeli” soldiers and settlers will be arrested.

Footnotes:

1-        The Daily Star, 29-1-2001.

2-        Same source.

3-        AFP, 28-1-2001.

4-        Manar TV, 27-1-2001.

5-        The Daily Star, 29-1-2001.

6-        Manar TV, 27-1-2001.