Hizballah's Herald

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hizballah, was so struck by the daily street protests unfolding on the streets of Beirut--full of flag-waving demonstrators demanding Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon and an end to foreign meddling in the country--that he decided to hold a party of his own. He summoned his supporters to Beirut last week for a counterdemonstration, which drew hundreds of thousands of Shi'ites and other pro-Hizballah Lebanese into the capital's Riad al-Solh Square. Addressing the crowd from a balcony above the square, Nasrallah praised Syria, denounced the U.S. and made it clear that the West should not expect to have its way. "Your plans are wrong," he said. "Lebanon is not Ukraine."

With the country's political future in question, Nasrallah is determined that Hizballah will help control its destiny. Hizballah's show of force has emboldened Syria and its allies to reassert their influence. Emile Lahoud, Lebanon's pro-Syria President, announced the reappointment of Prime Minister Omar Karami, who had resigned during the freedom protests. Syrian President Bashar Assad gave U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen a timetable late last week for pulling all Syrian forces out of Lebanon. While that assurance may temporarily placate U.S. demands, President George W. Bush has vowed to keep up the pressure on Syria.

The war of wills between Washington and Damascus has created dilemmas for Hizballah. The group fears that the anti-Syrian protests may accelerate demands that Hizballah disband its military wing, in accord with U.N. Resolution 1559. A Syrian pullout would deprive Hizballah of a powerful ally on the ground and could choke off the Syrian channel for military supplies from Iran, Hizballah's main sponsor. Nasrallah is concerned that Lebanon will move into the U.S. orbit and face pressure to sign a peace treaty with Israel. While Nasrallah lauded Syria, he was careful to hold the demonstration under the colors of Lebanon's national flag. It was a sign that Hizballah will throw more of its weight into Lebanese politics; it already holds eight seats in parliament. For audiences in Lebanon as much as those in Washington--where Hizballah has long been shunned for its ties to terrorism and enmity toward Israel--the intended message of the demonstration was simple. As a Hizballah official put it, "We are here. Don't ignore us."

Nasrallah, 44, is used to being heard. Since assuming the group's leadership after Israel assassinated his predecessor, Sheik Abbas Musawi, in 1992, Nasrallah--a bearded, bespectacled Shi'ite cleric who trained in Najaf and Qum--has used Hizballah's resources to build a vast welfare network consisting of dozens of schools, 50 clinics and four hospitals as well as various businesses and farms that employ supporters.