Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Friday that Israeli claims about an alleged arms ship sent from Iran to Hizbullah were fabricated by Israel to target the resistance, which he stressed had the right to obtain weapons from “anywhere in the world.” The speaker added that Israel’s capture of a ship near Cyprus was also a bid to deflect attention away from the Goldstone report, on Israeli war crimes during the Gaza war.
The Goldstone report accused Israel and Hamas militants of war crimes during the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip, which killed up to 1,387 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
The report gave Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movemnet six months to mount credible investigations into the allegations or face possible prosecution at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
On Wednesday, Israeli naval commandos stormed a ship they said was carrying hundreds of tons of weapons just before dawn in waters close to Cyprus. Israeli media reports on Thursday suggested that the haul consisted of more than 3,000 rockets.
Military officials claimed to have obtained a document proving that the ship was en route from Iran, had docked in Beirut and was due to travel on to Latakia in Syria after receiving its cargo in Egypt.
In response to Israel, Hizbullah denied on Thursday Israel’s claim while condemning its piracy actions.
“Hizbullah categorically denies any link to the weapons that the Zionist enemy claims it removed from the vessel Francop,” the group said in a statement on Thursday.
“At the same time it condemns Israeli piracy in international waters.”
In Beirut, Berri said that he didn’t seek to defend the resistance, which he said “isn’t under any accusation. – NNA, AFP
Listen to the Article 
Printable Version 
Send to a friend 