Hezbollah chief’s arms threat

THE leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, whose backers Syria and Iran are at the centre of regional tension, made a rare public appearance yesterday marking the Shia Muslim festival of Ashura and said his group was building up its arsenal.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah walked through a crowd in Beirut’s southern suburbs. “Every day we are growing and our weapons are increasing,” he said. “If anyone is betting our weapons are rusting, we [say] no, we replace our rusting weapons.”