11-12-2004, 04:38 PM
Hizbullah Chief Shaikh Hassan Nasrullah told a rally marking the International Al-Quds Day (Last Friday of Ranazan as proclaimed by Imam Khomeini in 1980) in Baalbak, eastern Lebanon.
“I confirm what the Israeli Chief of Staff has said: Mirsad I can carry explosives of about 40 and 50 kilograms. It does not have the capacity of only reaching Nahariya (in northern Israel), but deeper and deeper, against electricity and water installations and military bases. Our first drone’s flight over Israel to the Mediterranean town of Nahariya lasted 14 minutes. We did not use Mirsad I for a military action, but to confront the violations. But if our country faces aggression, we will use any means and capability that we possess.
We do not only have the capacity of confronting violations of (Lebanese) airspace, but we also have the capacity to respond to any aerial aggression or any kind of action from the air. We do not just have one plane, we have enough of them, and we have the capability of building as many planes as we need."
The United Nations, which repeatedly denounces Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace, said the incursion by the Hizbullah drone had been followed by violations of Lebanese airspace by five Israeli warplanes and condemned both.
Lebanese Information Minister Elie Ferzli justified the drone flights, saying Hizbullah had "turned to this method because international protests have not succeeded in putting an end to Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace".