Hezbollah brags about missiles

BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 26 (UPI) -- Hezbollah's missiles will remain in place to protect Lebanon from Israeli aggression, the secretary-general of the Shiite resistance movement said.

Israel claims Hezbollah has amassed tens of thousands of missiles and rockets in Lebanon. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said during a speech that missiles will remain part of the Arab equation and nobody can take them away.

"They will remain effective and will protect Lebanon," he said in statements quoted by Hezbollah's al-Manar news Web site.

"They will remain present in the equation of the region and no one will be able to grab them, neither in Lebanon nor in the world."

Washington was considering pulling military aid from Lebanon because of the Hezbollah arsenal.

U.S. Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had said information gleaned from classified briefings in November convinced him that military aid to Lebanon will have a greater focus. He said he felt the Lebanese military was better able to handle the assistance responsibly.

In August, Berman said he would withhold roughly $100 million in military aid to Lebanon because of concerns over Hezbollah.

Nasrallah, meanwhile, said his resistance was "very close" to victory in the region.