[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 33 (Tuesday, March 12, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1888-S1889]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        THE HEZBALLAH CONFESSION

 Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss something 
that most people who follow the subject, I am sure already knew, but is 
nevertheless an interesting admission. In a Reuters interview, 
yesterday, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezballah in 
Lebanon, flatly admitted to Iranian funding when he said:

       We are not shy and they (Iranians) are not afraid about it 
     . . . we don't hide Iranian support. There is no need to deny 
     that we receive financial and political support from Iran.

  Moreover, he admitted that Syrian forces in Lebanon's Bekkah valley 
help greatly in getting weapons to his forces, when he stated:

       Syrian forces are stationed in the Bekaa [sic] (valley) and 
     the north. These two areas constituted the background of 
     support for resistance fighters in (Israeli)-occupied areas.

  These admissions, especially that of implicit Syrian support for 
Iranian terrorism are vital to understanding the relationship of these 
terrorist organizations and how they operate in the region. If we are 
going to support Israel while it wages peace, are we going to ignore 
Syria and Iran while they wage war against Israel?

[[Page S1889]]

  We cannot ignore what is going on for mere political expediency. We 
must confront the facts as they exist and this means that we must 
question the Syrians on this admission. With Iran, I am sure that there 
is no disagreement. But Syria is another question altogether.
  Mr. President, I ask that the text of this important interview be 
printed in the Record.
  The text follows:

                     [From Reuters, Mar. 11, 1996]

 Hezbollah Chief Admits Iran Is Financing Group With BC-Iran-President

       Beirut, Lebanon.--For the first time, the leader of 
     Hezbollah acknowledged publicly in an interview published 
     Monday that Iran is financing the group.
       ``We don't hide Iranian support. There is no need to deny 
     that we receive financial and political support from Iran'' 
     said Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of the Shiite 
     Muslim Militant Group.
       ``We are not shy and they (Iranians) are not afraid about 
     it,'' he said in an interview with the London-based Arabic 
     Language Weekly Al Wasat.
       It was the first public admission of Iranian financial 
     support by a senior leader of Hezbollah, or Party of God.
       The group has vociferously denounced the planned counter-
     terrorism summit at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheik 
     Wednesday.
       Why doesn't one wonder why the United States is paying 3 
     billion dollars to the Zionist entity, which is attacking the 
     entire region while condemnation is voiced over Iran's 
     financial support for Hezbollah or any Islamic resistance 
     faction fighting to liberate its land?'' Nasrallah said.
        Hezbollah guerrillas are fighting to oust the 1,200 
     Israeli soldiers and 2,500 Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army 
     militiamen from an occupied border enclave in South Lebanon.
       Israel established the enclave, known as a ``security 
     zone,'' in 1985 as a buffer against cross-border guerrilla 
     attacks on its northern towns.
        Hezbollah guerrillas mounted a string of attacks on 
     Israeli troops in the ``security zone'' Sunday, killing one 
     and wounding five.
       Nasrallah also said that Syria, the main power broker in 
     Lebanon, was facilitating Hezbollah's arms supplies through 
     routes in northern and eastern Lebanon.
       Syria maintains an estimated 40,000 troops in Lebanon, 
     ostensibly as peacekeepers to prevent a rekindling of the 
     1975-90 civil war.
       Nasrallah said since Hezbollah was founded in 1982 
     following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon that year, Syria 
     has provided the party with ``a political cover, moral 
     support and field facilities.''
       ``Syrian forces are stationed in the Bekaa (Valley) and the 
     north. These two areas constituted the background of support 
     for resistance fighters in (Israeli)-occupied areas,'' he 
     said.
       ``Of course, Syria didn't give us money. It has supported 
     us and facilitated'' arms supplies, Nasrallah added.
       Like its sponsor, Iran, Hezbollah opposes the U.S.-
     sponsored Middle East peace process and has vowed to torpedo 
     it through intensified attacks in South Lebanon, the last 
     active Arab-Israeli war front.
       The Sharm El-Sheik Summit, which will be attended by U.S. 
     President Clinton and more than 30 other world leaders, was 
     called to bolster Israel following a wave of suicide bombings 
     which killed 61 people.
        Hezbollah has hailed the bombings, which have been claimed 
     by the Palestinian militant Hamas group, as an ``Act of 
     Heroic Jihad (holy war) against occupation.'' 

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