Beirut demo sees Hezbollah say Gaza is not alone

Dec 27, 2008, 13:59 GMT

Beirut - Followers of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah and others from Hamas gathered Saturday in Beirut's southern suburbs, a hotbed of Hezbollah, to show support for the people of Gaza after Israel launched a massive attack on the strip.

'The people of Gaza are not alone...the coming days will show you this,' said Hezbollah politburo member Sheikh Hashem Safieddine.

He criticized Arab leaders and called on them to take urgent steps against Israel's attack on Gaza. He also urged Arab people to pressure their leaders.

'It is an American-Israeli war supported by Arab regimes aimed at pressuring the Palestinian people to extinguish their cause,' said Safieddine, a first cousin of Hezbollah's Secretray-General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah had already held several rallies in Lebanon earlier this month protesting the Gaza Strip blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt.

Hamas spokesman in Lebanon, Ousama Hamdan, who was attending the Hezbollah rally, called on the people of Gaza to stay in their steadfastness, declaring they will witness 'a new victory soon.'

Arab foreign ministers were scheduled to meet in Cairo on Sunday or Monday to take a common position on Israeli raids, Arab League chief Amr Mussa said.

Lebanon's premier Fouad Seniora also expressed the lebanese government's condemnation of the Israeli air strikes, and called on the Arab League and Arab leaders quickly to form a united Arab stance to respond to the Israeli attacks.

Seniora also called on the United Nations and its Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to take international measures to halt Israel's actions.

Seniora called for a broad Lebanese, Arab and international campaign of solidarity with the Palestinians, in order to stop the attacks, rescue the victims and take defensive measures against Israel.