By Xinhua,
Beirut : Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah called for swift settling of a national defense strategy and holding the parliamentary elections on time, local Daily Star reported Wednesday.
“Equipping the Lebanese army is a priority, and discussion of a national defense strategy should be completed,” Nasrallah said in a speech Tuesday night on the occasion of his party’s martyr’s day.
Lebanese leaders are engaged in national dialogue sessions to reach an agreement on a national defense strategy that would tackle Hezbollah’s arsenal.
As for the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for 2009,Nasrallah said that “not holding the elections or postponing them would be very dangerous,” adding that it would be in the interest of all parties to hold “free and fair elections without obstruction or postponement.”
Some media reports hinted at possible obstruction of the upcoming elections by parties which would lose.
Nasrallah reiterated his commitment to his allies in the opposition, stressing that recent reconciliation and meetings with his political opponents did not change this commitment.
Nasrallah, leader of the Shiite militant party, met in October with Sunni majority leader Saad Hariri for reconciliation, following fierce clashes between Sunni and Shiite supporters in Beirut in May.
“Reconciliation is a national interest, and all groups are interested in having a calm political situation,” Nasrallah said.
Nasrallah stressed his support for Lebanese-Syrian security coordination, in response to the visit of Lebanese Interior Minister Ziad Baroud to Damascus Monday for talks on security and anti-terrorism cooperation between the two countries.
On the recent election of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, Nasrallah called on people “not to exaggerate their hopes, so that they won’t be disappointed later.”