BEIRUT, Lebanon, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Lebanon's Shiite militant Hezbollah has reiterated its rejection of a Security Council resolution calling for its disarmament.
"We will keep our arms as long as the Zionist danger over Lebanon persisted," legislator Mohammed Raad, member of Hezbollah's bloc in parliament, said Tuesday.
Raad said that even if Israel pulled out from the disputed Shabaa Farms area in south Lebanon which Israel says belongs to Syria while Lebanon insists it is part of its national territory, "armed resistance should be maintained as a strong card in Lebanon's hand.
"The fate of Hezbollah's armed resistance is not necessarily linked to Israel's withdrawal from the Shabaa Farms, but it is part of an equation to protect Lebanon from Israel as long as it needs that protection," Raad explained.
He said "neither the old armistice agreement with Israel, nor international resolutions provide Lebanon with the protection it needs."
Raad stressed that demarcating the border in the Shabaa Farms region will not lead to Hezbollah's disarmament.
"Those who hope this will happen are mistaken and misled... We are aware of the Zionist danger over Lebanon and we cannot relinquish our responsibility of defending Lebanon in case it was attacked by Israel," Raad added.
The controversial issue of disarming Hezbollah as requested by U.N. resolution 1559 is dividing the Lebanese, many of whom accuse Hezbollah of being a puppet in the hands of Iran and Syria.
Relations between Lebanon and Syria have been strained over the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri last Feb. 14 in which the Syrian regime and its Lebanese allies are suspected.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been trying to ease Lebanese-Syrian tensions.
Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman reportedly arrived in Damascus Tuesday on a fresh mediation mission between Lebanon and Syria, security sources told United Press International in Cairo.
Suleiman will present new ideas for easing tensions to Syrian and Lebanese officials during his visit, which includes Beirut, the sources said.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said earlier that Riyadh proposed demarcating the Syrian-Lebanese border and exchanging diplomatic representation as confidence building measures to ease tensions.
