Hezbollah criticises Annan over Lebanese remarks

BEIRUT, Oct 4 (AFP) - The Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah on Sunday denounced last month's UN Security Council resolution calling for the respect of Lebanese sovereignty and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's comments that Lebanon and Syria have not met the resolution's demands.
UN Resolution 1559 of September 2 is "biased", Hezbollah's number two, Sheikh Naim Qassem, complained on the Arabic al-Arabiya television channel.
"It constitutes a sword of Damocles on Lebanon and Syria and is aimed at putting pressure on Syria," he said on the Dubai-based satellite news channel.
The resolution calls for the withdrawal of all foreign forces in Lebanon in a clear reference to Syria, which remains the main power broker in the country with more than 10,000 troops on the ground in its smaller neighbour.
Syria has not complied with the UN Security Council demand to pull its troops out of Lebanon and said it cannot give a timetable for doing so, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan reported on Friday.
"The government of Syria has informed me that it cannot provide me with numbers and timetables for any future withdrawal," Annan said in the report released to the press.
"The requirements on the various parties set out in resolution 1559 have not been met," he added.
The Hezbollah official said the UN resolution "place Lebanon under international guardianship" and denies the country the right to decide for itself.
"Hezbollah protects lebanon... and the Lebanese people," he said.
Without the "resistance", Israel could do what it liked to Lebanon, he added.
The United States has frequently demanded that Syria halt its support for Hezbollah.
Earlier Sunday Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Obeid accused Annan of making a biased assessment of international respect for Beirut's sovereignty that highlighted Syrian breaches while ignoring Israel's.
"Annan's report on Lebanon and Syria is extreme and exaggerated and lets Israel off too lightly by ignoring its violations," Obeid told reporters. "We would have hoped for a fairer, more accurate and comprehensive report."