Hizbullah leader: Algeria suffered from colonialism and knows the meaning of resistance

The head of the Arab Relations at the Lebanese political party “Hizbullah” Hassen Azzedine gave a interview to “Echourok” in which he replied to a series of interrogations concerning the setback of the opposition and the future prospects of the political map in this country as well as the conflict between “Hizbullah” and the Egyptian authorities.

• Q: What can you say about the unexpected setback registered by Hizbullah party in the recent local elections?
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• A: The last elections were crucial for the Lebanese political future, the parties in opposition did their utmost to win, but unfortunately one of them used a subversive political discourse and huge sums of money in the campaign trail in addition to foreign interventions. On the other hand, the elections took place according to the 1960 electoral law which is an unbalanced one as it encourages the use of money and ethnic and ideological discourses.
• Despite this victory, I consider that the Lebanese political scene will not be affected because the party had a small majority; moreover, we consider that the lections are not the end of the world and we will carry on working for the welfare of our nation. This majority has lay out its program and their vision to solve the multifaceted problem which is undermining the country at the political, economic and military level.
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• Q: Some experts agree to say that the opposition failed to present a sustainable program to the voter?
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• A: During the campaign the opposition advocated a positive political discourse and presented an action plan that would threaten the Israeli state and would give rise to a fair and powerful Lebanese state, but the extremist discourse used by the other party backed by some foreign political spheres has affected the outcome of these elections.
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• Q: What will be the strategy of the opposition for the upcoming phase, and will Hizbullah take part in the future government set to be led by Saad Al Harriri;
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• A: It’s up to the winning team to answer these questions; do they expect to form a plural government? Do they intend to set up democracy? If the party in power decides to exclude its opponents it has to take on its responsibilities. As to the second part of your question, I would say yes our party will be part of the next coalition government after negotiations but this will depend on the other team and whether it is ready to work on sound basis.
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• Q: immediately after the announcement of the results, Israel has called for the disarmament of the resistance; do you feel threatened after the win of the other party?
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•  A: The talk about resistance is not something new, as it started since the annexation of the Lebanese territory by Israel. The resistance has always been targeted and the last example was during July 2006 where Israel used its entire arsenal but failed to crush this resistance. There is a consensus in Lebanon concerning the necessity for Hizbullah to carry on its activities to face up the Israeli threat, how can we give up arms while Israel is threatening us?
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• Q: Do you think tat Israel is behind the latest assassinations that targeted outstanding Lebanese figures including Rafik Harriri?
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• A: Some intelligence reports hinted to the involvement of the former US vice -President Dick Cheney who created a cell for this purpose, after all, there is an international court which is conducting an investigation that, we hope, will be neutral and void of political pressures as it was the case in the beginning.
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• Q: what is the story of the so called “Hizbullah cell” that hit the Egyptian headlines recently?
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• A: It has nothing to do with a cell or a network as it was billed by the Egyptians, the thing is that a man called Sami Chihab was arrested in Cairo five months ago on charges of smuggling arms to Gaza before the Israeli strikes on the strip. This arrest was largely relayed by the Egyptian media. The Egyptian authorities accused him of trying to topple the regime and used huge media uproar in a move to dime the resistance’s image.
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• Q: Why is Hizbullah targeted by some Arab regimes?
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• A: Because simply Hizbullah embodies the Arab and Islamic resistance. The same thing is occurring with the Palestinian movement “Hammas” which is facing pressures from the same regimes; there is a big question mark here: Why does the Egyptian regime closing Rafah passage?
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• Q: Is Hizbullah optimistic to the coming into power of Obama?
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•  A: At first sight, it appears that the coming of Obama to power would shift the US policy, but the question is: Would that change be in the core of the Arab- Israeli conflict? So far we heard tempered discourses from the man, but in reality is that Benyamin Natanyahu is pursuing his policy including the building of colonies and the denial of a Palestinian state.
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• Q: What is the nature of the relationships between Hizbullah and Algeria?
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• A: A positive and normal one, the Algerian people knows the meaning of resistance and colonialism because he was colonized by the French. The Algerian state has always been by the side of the Palestinian cause.