Hezbollah to hold major rally

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Hezbollah announced plans to hold a martyrdom rally featuring key leaders as border tensions with Israel approach a boiling point.

Hezbollah through its al-Manar news service said it plans to hold demonstrations Tuesday to correspond with the anniversary of the martyrdom of its leaders Sheik Ragheb Harb, Abbas Moussawi and Hajj Imad Moghniyyeh.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is expected to release a speech to an audience in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Lebanon, meanwhile, plans to honor the anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Sunday. Hariri was killed along with several others in a massive bombing in downtown Beirut in 2005.

The celebrations come as tensions with Israel over border security concerns escalate. Prime Minister Saad Hariri told the BBC in a recent interview that the escalations with Israel were becoming "really dangerous."

Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising 34-day war in 2006. A U.N.-brokered cease-fire calls on Hezbollah to disarm while reminding Israel of its obligations to respect Lebanese sovereignty.

Both sides have undermined the effort, however. Beirut in 2009 approved a measure that allows Hezbollah, now a member of the government, to maintain an armed resistance. Israel, for its part, has conducted surveillance operations in Lebanese airspace on a daily basis.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/02/11/Hezbollah-to-hold-major-rally/UPI-42721265917325/.