BEIRUT, 18 September 2006 — Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah invited the Lebanese yesterday to attend a victory rally in the guerrilla group’s Beirut stronghold battered by Israel in a 34-day war. “I call on you all to participate in a victory rally, your victory ... next Friday afternoon in the southern suburb, the suburb of honor, glory, faith, steadfastness and victory for the whole country and the whole nation,” he said in a message aired on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar Television.
“Let us renew our covenant and declare our joy at the divine victory to the whole world.” It was not clear if Nasrallah himself would attend the rally amid fears of Israeli attack.
The charismatic leader has not made a public appearance since a July 12 press conference to announce the capture of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid that sparked the war.
Hezbollah has declared victory in the war, which killed over 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis. Israeli warplanes pounded Hezbollah’s strongholds during the war and bombarded bridges and roads across the country, forcing almost a million people to flee their homes.
In a show of defiance, the rally will take place in the southern suburb of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold that was among the areas most devastated by Israeli bombardments.
