Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has stressed that his group will not disarm even if the Shebaa Farms were liberated and acknowledged that a Hizbullah fighter was behind the downing of a Lebanese army helicopter last week.

"Shebaa Farms are not a pretext to keep our arms. If the Farms were liberated now, the weapons will stay," Nasrallah said in a televised speech late last Thursday. "I am telling you that from now because we are speaking of resistance as a defense need for Lebanon," he added.

The Shiite leader also stressed that Hizbullah will not surrender its weapons "as long as Israeli threats persist." He reiterated that his group will destroy the Jewish state if it launches an attack on Lebanon.

"The five (Israeli) brigades will be destroyed in the south, Western Bekaa and everywhere," he said.

According to Nasrallah, last week's helicopter incidentin Sujud was an accident. "The helicopter was flying over the hills and landed... Some of the brothers were surprised by the presence of a helicopter and one of them opened fire," Nasrallah said.

"Even in our training, mistakes happen," the Hizbullah chief said, adding that his group is "cooperating with the investigation to the very last phase."

© 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)