(28 Oct 2005)
1. Overhead shot of Hezbollah militants drawing with their uniforms the Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags
2. Overhead shot of parade
3. Various of parade, people watching
4. People watching parade
5. Mid shot Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah Secretary General, with officials watching the parade (in centre, between two men)
6. Various of parade
7. Pan of crowd, people waving Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags
8. Cutaway poster of Iranian political leaders
9. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah Secretary General:
"We clearly confirm that we stand on the side of Syria's leadership and its people as it has been targeted by American and Zionist attempts to punish it, because Syria stood on the side of the Lebanese and Palestinians and on the side of Lebanese resistance and refused to make unilateral peace with Israel. Loyalty calls on us to stand by its side and not to let it fall prey to the treachery of the Americans and the Zionists."
10. Cutaway man with flag
11. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah Secretary General:
"We confirm our determination to liberate every inch of our occupied land and to liberate every prisoner in the (Israeli) occupation prisons."
12. Wide shot of the podium
13. Various of displays of Hezbollah strength and rally
STORYLINE:
The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla movement pledged support on Friday for Syria, which a U.N. investigation has implicated in the assassination of ex-Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah also lashed out at U.N. efforts aimed at disarming his anti-Israel guerrillas, saying the international community aims to serve the interests of America and Israel.
Nasrallah said that Syria was being "punished" because "stood on the side of the Lebanese and Palestinians and on the side of Lebanese resistance and refused to make unilateral peace with Israel."
The bearded Shiite cleric was addressing thousands of supporters in Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold, many of whom waved the Shiite Muslim group's yellow flags in a mass rally to mark al-Quds - or Jerusalem - Day.
Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran and accused by the United States of being a terrorist movement, put on a powerful display of its military might in a parade aimed at countering international claims that it was an armed militia which should be disbanded.
No weapons were visible in the parade, but unit after unit of Hezbollah members in olive green military fatigues or black uniforms marched to bands playing Lebanese and French military music.
Hezbollah hold the rally annually, but this one had added significance because it came at the height of tensions in Lebanon and Syria following the February 14 assassination of ex-Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Many Lebanese blamed his death on Syria, which was forced to withdraw all its forces from Lebanon amid intense criticism following Hariri's death.
Hezbollah's show of force was seen as a sign that it is seeking to strengthen its position in Lebanon after the withdrawal of their Syrian allies.
Nasrallah also criticised the United Nations and its envoy to Lebanon and Syria, Terje Roed-Larsen, who has said Lebanon has made no significant progress in disbanding militias, partly because more weapons are coming into their possession from Syria.
Roed-Larsen reported this week to the U.N. Security Council on Lebanon's implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1559 passed in September 2004 that demands Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias disarm, including
Hezbollah.
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