Thursday, May 25, 2000 HEADLINES Hezbollah SG visits liberated area on Friday Hezbollah on Resistance and Liberation Day: a day of heritage for our children IR announces martyrdom of two of its men who fell during liberation days Hamas and IJP congratulate IR on victory President Lahoud and PM Hoss tour liberated area May 25, Resistance and Liberation Day Occupation dynamites Mount Roos outpost in Shibaa farms Kharazi in Beirut and south, congratulating UN to go ahead with marking Lebanese border after Israeli withdrawal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hezbollah SG visits liberated area on Friday Hezbollah Secretary General his Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah invited the Lebanese to attend a meeting he will hold Friday afternoon in the liberated town of Bint Jbeil. Sayyed Nasrallah is expected to deliver speech on the occasion of liberation and to declare the party's positions on the liberation stage and the developments that are to follow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hezbollah on Resistance and Liberation Day: a day of heritage for our children On the occasion of declaring May 25 a national day, as the Resistance and Liberation Day, Hezbollah said, "Today the sanguineous blood of the martyrs blossoms, with the fragrance of victory in the air, and the Lebanese collect the fruit of their sacrifices and steadfastness in pride, dignity, glory and freedom." "Today Lebanon enters, in an unprecedented way, the heart of history through its wide gate, the gate of proud victory against the invading occupier, recovering the glories of Sidon, Tyre and Jbeil," a Hezbollah communiqué read. "There is no doubt that history will record Lebanon's name with letters of light and crown its people with a laurel for scoring the first real victory against the Israeli invading occupier since the beginning of the Arab Israeli conflict in the region. "History will also record how Lebanon has turned into a school in heroism, sacrifice, and ignoring trivial issues for the sake of major causes. "Lebanese! Sons of our dignified people! You have become the model and the example for every nation seeking freedom from executioners, you have become the masters of sacrifice, altruism, pride, dignity and glory. "Therefore, let these days be feasts; is there a feast more supreme than the feast of freedom, pride and dignity? And is there a joy greater than the one of defeating the unjust and the usurper? "Lebanese! Let this day of yours be a feast, a day to thank Allah first, to appreciate, second, the arms of the Mujahedeen and, third, all those who have sacrificed, held on, waited in patience, as a sign of gratitude to them all. Let the day be full of joy and thankfulness, praying to Allah to complete the joy for all the oppressed peoples in the future. "Lebanese! The dream is no longer a dream, hope or promise, it has become a reality, for the enemy's forts have crumbled, and the myth of the invincible army has fallen forever. The enemy moved out with its tail between its legs, the homeland was liberated and the soil was recovered. "Lebanese! This victory is from you and belongs to you, just like the resistance, let it be a day for you to preserve for your children as a heritage that holds their heads high forever. Be ones who deserve to mark it as you have been ones who deserved to achieve it." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IR announces martyrdom of two of its men who fell during liberation days The Islamic Resistance (IR) and Hezbollah on Resistance and Liberation Day presented two martyrs who died of wounds sustained during the process of liberating the zone which was occupied by the Israeli forces. Martyr Ibrahim Ali al-Zein was martyred of wounds sustained on Tuesday, May 23, when the enemy aircraft targeted his car, among other civilian cars, in the vicinity of the Blatt outpost. Martyr al-Zein, 30, was married and had four children. IR also announced that one of its Ulama, Sheikh Abu Zar, was martyred on Liberation day. Sheikh Ahmed Hamad Yahia (Abu Zar) was martyred on Thursday, May 25, of wounds sustained during the clashes between the residents, on the one hand, and the occupation and its collaborators, on the other, on Monday in the outskirts of his hometown of Rshaf. Martyr Sheikh Abu Zar, 42, married with 4 children, joined IR in 1985, received religious courses in Iran, took part in several high military training courses, participated in many qualitative operations against the Israeli occupation forces, obtained encomium from Hezbollah Secretary General his Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hamas and IJP congratulate IR on victory The Movement of the Islamic Resistance in Palestine (Hamas) and the Movement of the Islamic Jihad in Palestine (IJP) hailed the victory achieved by Hezbollah in south Lebanon calling on the Palestinian people to follow the lead of the Lebanese Resistance. "The victories of our heroic people in Lebanon against the Zionist enemy certainly confirm that rights are taken by force through Jihad, Resistance, blood, and sacrifices; these rights are not given through begging," a Hamas communiqué read. The Zionist enemy understands only the language of force and arms, it kneels only before steadfast men and submits before martyrs only. This is the lesson that our Palestinian people needs to understand very well and resume, in its light, its Jihad and Resistance," the communiqué added. We in Hamas, on behalf of the patient garrisoned Palestinian people, congratulate the brotherly Lebanese people, government and brave resistance, on top of which are the heroes and Mujahedeen of Hezbollah, on the great victory, liberation of land and expulsion of the invading occupiers. We also congratulate Syria, Iran and al those who backed the resistance, the Hamas communiqué concluded. For its part, IJP stressed that "the reverberating defeat of the Zionist army and its collaborators at the hands of Hezbollah's Mujahedeen affirms once again that Resistance is the only option that recovers right and liberates land and prisoners. As for the farcical negotiations, they squander our land, confiscate our rights, and keep our prisoners as hostages in the hands of the usurpers." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- President Lahoud and PM Hoss tour liberated area President Gen Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Dr. Salim al-Hoss toured the liberated area in south Lebanon on Thursday. The two officials, the first president and premier to tour the villages adjacent to the border with occupied Palestine, promised to develop the areas and provide it with security, services, water, electricity and roads. The Public Works Minister, Najib Miqati, Wednesday evening held meetings with services' local officials in the area. Miqati also conducted a quick evaluation of the situation besides a series of contacts with the concerned ministers to start a quick treatment of the problems. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 25, Resistance and Liberation Day The Lebanese government declared May 25 a national holiday called Resistance and Liberation Day. Prime Minister Dr. Salim al-Hoss issued a statement announcing that the day that follows the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon will be "Resistance and Liberation Day" and will be a national holiday marked every year. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Occupation dynamites Mount Roos outpost in Shibaa farms An enemy military source said Israeli demolition experts overnight blew up the Israeli outpost in Jabal al-Roos opposite the Shibaa Farms which are still occupied. The source said the outpost was the last Israeli outpost inside Lebanese territories. Hezbollah have said "Israel's" failure to withdraw from the Shibaa Farms, near Mount Hermon, and to release the rest of the Lebanese detainees meant that "Israel" was still an occupying power in Lebanon and a legitimate target for attacks. Hezbollah shelled Israeli outposts in the area twice this week. The farms are on a slope of Mount Hermon now under Israeli occupation. "Israel" said it seized the area from Syria in the 1967 Middle East War, but both Lebanon and Syria say the farms belong to Lebanon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kharazi in Beirut and south, congratulating Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran Dr Kamal Kharazi arrived in Beirut Thursday for talks and a visit to the liberated area following the Israeli occupation's pullout from Lebanon. Kharazi met President Gen Emile Lahoud, Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Dr Salim al-Hoss, besides Hezbollah Secretary General his Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. After making a brief statement to the press he left for the village of Bent Jbail, just three kilometers (1.5 miles) from the Palestinian border. Kharazi said he had come to "take part in the celebrations for the victory of the Lebanese people over the Israeli enemy" and stressed the need for harmony among Christians and Moslems in the south. "The Lebanese people achieved its victory through unity, and it must preserve unity between the various religious faiths," he said. Iran, he promised, would pursue "its efforts to consolidate this solidarity." Kharazi will head for Damascus on Friday for talks with Syrian leaders, the Iranian foreign ministry said. On the other hand, Hezbollah was flooded with congratulation letters, the most prominent of which being from the leader of the Islamic Umma Ayatollah Sayyed Ali al-Khamenei in which his Eminence commended the Lebanese and their patience calling on the Ummah to follow their model, and from the spiritual leader of Hamas his Eminence Sheikh Ahmed Yassin who addressed Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah saying, "We in Hamas in Palestine view this great victory as one for Islam and Moslems in Palestine and everywhere in Allah's Land." "We also see it as a prelude to the victory of the resistance in the usurped land of Palestine and the liberation of al-Aqsa Mosque besides returning the displaced Palestinian people to its land and home," Sheikh Yassin added. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UN to go ahead with marking Lebanese border after Israeli withdrawal U.N. Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen told reporters he had sent U.N. experts to south Lebanon to verify the Israeli pullout. The United Nations also hopes to deploy an expanded peacekeeping force in the vacated area and to help the Lebanese government restore central government authority, he added. He said he would move fast to get from "Israel" maps of mines left behind in order to help the Lebanese authorities locate and dismantle them. Larsen said he would soon visit "Israel" and Syria to discuss relevant security issues. The U.N. envoy, met President Gen Emile Lahoud, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Dr Salim al-Hoss on Thursday. The UN said Wednesday that it would proceed with plans to mark the southern borders to verify the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces. "The UN still intends to take cartographers to the area to identify the border and to make a line to confirm the Israeli withdrawal," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said. First, UN cartographers "will fly over areas where the border is not marked and will drop brightly colored concrete canisters from a low altitude to mark the border," he said. After that "we shall patrol on the ground to make sure there are no remaining Israeli elements or SLA," he said. He was referring to what used to be called South Lebanese Army, the Israeli occupation's militia which fled south across the border or surrendered to the Islamic Resistance men as Israeli occupation forces departed. The Lebanese-"Israeli" border runs for a total of about 110 kilometers, eastwards from Naqoura on the Mediterranean coast, then northwards around the northern tip of "Israel" known as the finger of Galilee. "We will draw a practical line to verify that Israel has withdrawn behind that line," Eckhard said. Before the cartographers could drop the concrete markers, "we will need assurances from Syria and Lebanon that they will be able to fly over the border," Eckhard said.