Mga Panghitabo (News)

BEIRUT — Hezbollah has called on Lebanon’s government to resign, in its first public rally in Beirut since the war with Israel ended, and defiantly repeated a vow not to abandon its weapons as urged by the United Nations.

A blow to prospects for political unity in the wake of the devastating 34-day war, the demand came as the UN force tasked with monitoring a ceasefire continued to grow with the arrival of French tanks and other armor.

Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar told a rally in a Shiite southern suburb on Monday night that "the Forces of March 14 [the anti-Syrian coalition which leads the government] aligned themselves with the Israeli enemy from the start" of the conflict that ended on August 14.

"They planned the assassination of the Resistance [Hezbollah’s military wing] in collaboration with the Americans and the Israelis.

"The Resistance will keep its weapons," he said repeatedly, rejecting the demands of the UN Security Council truce resolution which ended the conflict.

"This government must go," he said to chants of "Government, resign" from the crowd.

Ammar called for the formation of a government of national unity embracing factions outside the current cabinet, including Christian Michel Aoun, a longtime Syrian opponent now in alliance with Hezbollah, and pro-Syrian Christian notables like former MP Suleiman Franjieh.

Hezbollah itself forms part of the government, holding two of the 24 cabinet posts.

The rally was the biggest organized by the group since the end of the Israeli offensive launched after Hezbollah captured two soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid on July 12.

Ammar’s speech came on the heels of a Monday statement by the militia, which also slammed the Forces of March 14th.

Prime Minister Fuad Siniora belongs to that group and has come under fire from the opposition press for being too pliant in his dealings with the West.

"The repeated calls by these forces for the disarmament of Hezbollah aim to serve the interests of their Western masters, at the head of which are the United States and their allies, Israel," the Hezbollah statement said.

"We appeal to those forces to prove their nationalism and not put Lebanon under foreign tutelage, the object of which is to make Lebanon unable to defend itself against Israel."

The Jewish state’s avowed aim in the war was to recover the soldiers and to crush Hezbollah.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which paved the way for the ceasefire, called for steps to be taken to secure the soldiers’ release.

It also called for the full implementation of the deal that brought an end to Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war and to security council resolutions that "require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon so that …there will be no weaponry or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state."

Hezbollah has vowed support for Resolution 1701, but hedged it by saying that it will not disarm until Israel ends its occupation of all Lebanese territory.

Israel forces have been progressively withdrawing from areas they occupied during the July-August war, to be replaced by Lebanese and UNIFIL troops. That pullout should be completed in the coming days.

UNIFIL announced Tuesday morning that Israel was pulling out of the town of Maibib, ending its presence in the eastern sector of the border area.

Spokesman Alexander Ivankov said the "Israeli army is withdrawing from the eastern part, UNIFIL is starting to patrol and tomorrow [Wednesday] the Lebanese army will take control of the area."

In other developments, 13 French Leclerc battle tanks and a dozen armored vehicles arrived in Beirut as France builds up the forces it is contributing to UNIFIL. France plans to contribute around 2,000 troops to UNIFIL, out of a total force of some 15,000.

On Wednesday, just under 600 Spanish marines and soldiers are expected to disembark in the south as part of their country’s contribution to the force of 1,100 troops.

As EU diplomatic and military support for the truce gains pace, the foreign ministers of Spain, Miguel Angel Moratinos, and Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn, are due in Beirut for talks.

Italian Defense Minister Arturo Parisi will also be visiting.