BEIRUT, Lebanon - The chief of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had been defeated and 'will do anything to save himself.'

Speaking at a rally marking a Shiite religious festival, Nasrallah made his remarks in reference to the Israeli premier's statements that the military strategy for Israel's 2006 war in Lebanon had been drawn up in advance.

Olmert made the statements during testimony last month before a commission investigating the 33-day war against Hezbollah in July and August, Israeli media reported.

The political future of Olmert - who is trusted by only two per cent of his country's public according to the latest opinion polls - could only depend on the commission's conclusions.

'In the history of the Jewish state none of its premiers received two per cent in a public opinion polls,' Nasrallah added.

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Olmert told the commission that in March 2006, as acting prime minister, he asked to see the military's possible responses if Hezbollah abducted Israeli soldiers.

Olmert's 33-day war on Lebanon to avenge the abduction of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah in near the Lebanese border, failed to meet the stated aims of freeing the two soldiers or crushing Hezbollah. The war left dead more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

Olmert testified before the commission on February 1, the last of about 70 politicians and military officials to do so. It is expected to issue its findings in the coming weeks. -DPA