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Lebanon's Hezbollah Criticizes US Comments

   Responding  to U.S. defense secretary, official says weapons belong to
   resistance movement that 'protects' and 'liberates'

   VOA News 28 April 2010
   Israeli  Defense  Minister  Ehud  Barak  (R)  gestures as U.S. Defense
   Secretary  Robert Gates looks on during a joint news conference at the
   Pentagon, 27 Apr 2010

Photo: AP

   Israeli  Defense  Minister  Ehud  Barak  (R)  gestures as U.S. Defense
   Secretary  Robert Gates looks on during a joint news conference at the
   Pentagon, 27 Apr 2010

   A  Hezbollah  official in Lebanon has sharply criticized U.S. comments
   about the group's weapons stockpile.
   Parliament  member Hassan Fadlallah says there is a difference between
   weapons  that  only  serve "invasions, occupations and aggressions" --
   which  he described as those of the U.S. and Israel -- and the weapons
   of a resistance that he says "protects" and "liberates."

   Israel  and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006 that killed more
   than  1,200  Lebanese.  During that war, Hezbollah fired thousands of
   missiles into Israel. About 160 Israelis were killed.
   Fadlallah's comments were reported Wednesday in the Lebanese newspaper
   As-Safir.
   On  Tuesday,  U.S.  Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Iran and Syria
   are   arming   Hezbollah  militants  with  sophisticated  rockets  and
   missiles.   In  a joint news conference with Israeli Defense Minister
   Ehud  Barak,  Gates  also said Hezbollah has more rockets and missiles
   than most governments in the world.
   However,  the  U.S. defense secretary did not repeat an assertion from
   Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres who said Syria had been delivering
   long-range Scud missiles to Hezbollah. Â
   Scud  missiles  could  pose  a  threat  to  Israel.  Syria denied the
   allegation and accused Israel of looking for an excuse to attack.
   Hezbollah,  which  is  supported  by  Iran  and Syria, is considered a
   terrorist group by the U.S. and other countries.

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