Hizbollah chief will obey truce when timing agreed

BEIRUT, Aug 12 (Reuters) Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah today said his guerrillas would observe a UN resolution to end fighting with Israel once the timing of the truce was agreed and adhered to by Israel.

He said Hizbollah had the right to resist Israeli soldiers while they remain inside Lebanon, but would cooperate with Lebanese soldiers and UN troops due to be deployed to southern Lebanon as part of the Security Council resolution.

''Once there is an agreement to stop the so-called military operations or the aggressive operations ... the resistance will adhere to it without hesitation,'' he said in a televised speech.

''We have said before that we agree to the deployment of the Lebanese army supported by the UNIFIL forces ... They will receive the full cooperation and facilitation of the resistance,'' he said.

''As long as there is Israeli military movement, Israeli field aggression and Israeli soldiers occupying our land ... it is out natural right to confront them, fight them and defend our land, our homes, and ourselves.'' Nasrallah said that Hizbollah, which has two ministers in the government, would wait for the cabinet to make a formal response to the UN resolution rather than preempt its decision.

The cabinet, which was meeting to discuss the resolution as Nasrallah spoke, looked set to endorse it.

''We find some aspects of the resolution unfair and unjust ... it blames the resistance which only carried out a limited military operation,'' said Nasrallah, adding however that it could have been much worse.

Hizbollah objected to an initial US-French draft resolution because it did not demand the immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.

REUTERS DKA RAI2140