Hezbollah leader makes rare appearance

The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah's group made a rare public appearance at a Beirut rally on Tuesday to mark the Muslim holy day of Ashoura. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has rarely been seen in public since his Shiite Muslim group battled Israel in a monthlong war in 2006, fearing Israeli assassination. Since then, he has communicated with his followers and gives news conference mostly via satellite link. But on Tuesday, the black-turbaned Nasrallah was seen walking through a throng of people in a southern Shiite stronghold in Beirut and then greeted crowds from the podium. "I wanted to be with you for few minutes ... to renew our pledge and for the world to hear us," Nasrallah said. His public appearance, he said, was a message to those who believe they can "threaten us," he added.Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah backed the Assad regime in a TV address, accusing the United States of seeking to destroy Syria "to make up for its defeat in Iraq," AP quoted him saying. He accused some in the Syrian opposition of catering to US agendas in Syria and the region, and called on protesters to realize that they were being "used" for the wider aim of striking at Assad's regime for its support for Hezbollah and other anti-Israel groups in the region. Lebanon's Daily Star quoted Nasrallah saying Lebanon would "stand by a regime that has stood by the resistance for a long time." Syria's state news agency, Sana, gave a approving account of Nasrallah's speech. It quoted him saying "what is required in Syria is dialogue and calm handling of matters." A smiling Nasrallah then left the podium, telling tens of thousands of supporters he will reappear in few minutes on a giant screen for a longer speech. "See you in few minutes," he joked to his followers before he left. His appearance is meant to portray confidence at a time of upheaval in the Middle East and particularly in Syria, which along with Iran is Hezbollah's backer. Syrians and Arabs around the region have in recent years elevated Nasrallah to the status of a nationalist hero after his guerrillas' 2006 war with Israel. Since the Syrian uprising, however, Syrians have unleashed their anger at Hezbollah over its blunt support for the regime of President Bashar Assad. Some protesters in Syria have set fire to the yellow flag of Hezbollah and pictures of Nasrallah. Ashoura marks the anniversary of the death in the seventh century of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussein. His death in a battle outside of the Iraqi city of Karbala sealed Islam's historical Sunni-Shiite split, which still bedevils the Middle East. Ashoura is one of the holiest days of the Muslim Shiite calendar.