Hizbollah rebuilds its military force under nose of UN
Pastor Dale Morgan
Hizbollah rebuilds its military force under nose of UN*
By Michael Hirst
Last Updated: 2:42am GMT 31/10/2006
Hizbollah has stepped up the rebuilding of its military infrastructure
in southern Lebanon despite the deployment in recent weeks of thousands
of Lebanese troops and international peacekeepers to limit the Islamic
militant group's activities.
Palestinian militant group
Members of Palestinian militant group Ansar Allah with a poster of
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
Standing firm against international pressure to disarm, the Shia group
is rearming and rebuilding tunnels and trenches destroyed by the Israeli
army during this summer's 34-day war.
Locals in Bint Jbeil, a town which saw fierce fighting, told yesterday
how Hizbollah was using the major reconstruction efforts to rebuild
their security infrastructure.
"They are working extremely fast," said one, who did not want to be
named. "Militants in Shia strongholds have interconnected tunnels and
bunkers under their houses. These are being rebuilt under cover of the
reconstruction work."
He said cables and telecommunications equipment had been installed and
the number of trucks delivering aid and supplies made it easy to
disguise weapons smuggling.
"They have a security network of hundreds of motorcycles, linked up by
walkie-talkies. Wherever outsiders move in the south they are followed.
You don't see guns, but Hizbollah knows exactly where you are." On the
crater-lined streets of Bint Jbeil, there was evidence of substantial
reconstruction and young men on motorcycles, but it was impossible to
discern whether any were Hizbollah fighters.
Another resident said: "Hizbollah is everywhere. But after the war the
fighters put away their guns and uniforms and went back to being school
teachers, engineers, farmers and business people."
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) argues that the
presence of 8,800 "blue helmets" and 12,000 Lebanese soldiers between
southern Lebanon's Litani river and the Israeli border since the Aug 14
ceasefire has severely restricted Hizbollah activity.
UN vehicles were in plentiful evidence yesterday, and at numerous points
Lebanese soldiers scrutinised traffic.
"We have fixed outposts between which we patrol night and day," said Lt
Laurent Trochet, the deputy commander of the French Unifil contingent
based north of Bint Jbeil. "This makes the smuggling of arms very
difficult."
But Lt Trochet admitted that the UN forces had very little intelligence
about Hizbollah activity. "I imagine that the people here are Hizbollah,
but they don't show themselves," he said. "We're trying to make contact
with the militants, but it's difficult because they're so disciplined."
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which brought an end to the
conflict, calls for Hizbollah to disarm and stop smuggling arms from
Syria. The UN argues that its patrols have no mandate to disarm
militants, merely to prevent the smuggling of arms, track suspicious
trucks and boats, and report their findings to the Lebanese army.
But locals argue that Hizbollah's popularity among the south's
predominantly Shia population has provided it with an extensive spying
network, which makes such work increasingly difficult.
Despite increasing pressure from the international community for
Hizbollah to put aside its weapons, analysts see it as highly unlikely
that the group will disarm voluntarily.
Timur Goskel, a former Unifil spokesman with close connections to the
group, said: "If Hizbollah is in parliament, having only been born in
1982, it's there because of the guns. They're never going to give those
guns up."
In Bint Jbeil, the overwhelming feeling among the locals was that
Hizbollah should keep its weapons.
"Still the Israelis come over the border, with their drones and jets"
said one woman. "Only Hizbollah keeps us safe. If they leave the area,
we will leave too."