Text of article entitled "Fadlallah receives call from Prime Minister Siniora, gives Friday sermons" published by Lebanese National News Agency website; subheadings inserted editorially, unless otherwise noted: Israel's "tremendous nuclear arsenal"

The learned Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah delivered the two Friday [29 July] sermons from the pulpit of the Mosque of Imams Hasan and Husayn in Harat Hurayk in the presence of a throng of religious, political and community figures and a large congregation of believers.

In the course of his political sermon he said: "What is [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon up to now? He announces that the free community must unite against what he terms 'Islamic terrorism,' so as to declare unremitting war against this terrorism. He offers Egypt cooperation in this; by which he means combating the Palestinian factions' resistance to his occupation, killing and imprisoning Palestinians and destroying their infrastructure. While he does them and the world the favour of withdrawing from Gaza, he plans to seize most of the West Bank's territory, including Jerusalem, by means of the settlements and the separating wall and to freeze any negotiated final solution, using as an excuse the requirement that the PNA [Palestinian National Authority] stamp out the intifadah in a Palestinian civil war.

"In his visit to France he asks her to save Israel from the Islamic resistance in Lebanon - this at a time when everyone, including the United Nations, knows that Israel is the one violating Lebanon daily with its airplanes and occupying part of its land at the Shab'a farms. But Sharon always tries to assume the role of victim in all his brutal crimes of occupation.

"He asks France and through it the EU, to pressure Iran regarding its peaceful nuclear progarm, which he fears will turn into a military nuclear project. Yet everyone knows that Iran has recognized the Atomic Test Ban Commission and signed the agreement, while Israel has not recognized the commission or signed the agreement. It is Israel that possesses a tremendous nuclear arsenal and we see no concern or condemnation from the Western countries in Europe and America, let alone any demand that Israel be called to account. Meanwhile, Israel is still occupying Palestinian land, attacking the Palestinian people, threatening all the Arab states and even threatening to bomb the Iranian reactors. Ludicrously, Sharon announces that 'France understands the danger that Hezbollah and Syria pose to Israel.' In fact, it is Israel that poses a danger to Lebanon and Syria by its occupation of part of their territory."

"Program of hostility to Islam"

Fadlallah added: "One notices that French officials are talking about anti-Semitism, a slogan that Israel raises against all who oppose its policy. Meanwhile, the progarm of hostility to Islam begins anew by a variety of means in its political, cultural and media aspects. The secretary general of the United Nations has already sounded a warning, but the project remains active in the West, exploiting certain bombings carried out by a group of terrorists, to the horror of the majority of the world's Muslims.

"In this period when the Arab and Islamic worlds are facing war from more than one side, particularly in the renewed danger of direct or indirect occupation of their peoples, the Arab and Islamic worlds must be vigilant, cautious and alert to all the motives hidden behind the situation for the sake of the comprehensive rescue operation that has become a life-or-death matter on several levels: political, security, economic, informational and cultural.

"Attention must be paid to the Palestinian scene and to managing the withdrawal from Gaza. It must not turn into an Israeli trick, backed by America, to do away with the Palestinian cause, a cause that is at the heart of the destiny and survival of Arab nationalism and Islam.

"The Palestinians must possess conscious unity in position, action and planning, so that the cause remains alive and bolstered by the steadfastness of the entire people. They must resort to objective, rational and conscious dialogue regarding everything about which they disagree.

"Disturbance to unstable perverted minds"

"Whereas terrorism continues to act through savage means to which innocent people in Islamic countries and elsewhere are falling victim, due to the occupation and reactions to it, we must confront the situation by educating people and by planning. We must stress that the seeds of this evil phenomenon emanate from the arrogant policy that has imposed itself on the Islamic world, whose members feel the cruel pressure on its peoples with regard to all their vital issues of destiny. This has caused much disturbance to unstable perverted minds in managing reactions, thereby confusing the cause and solving no problems.

"It is therefore necessary to raise the issue of arrogant policies as a cause of the problem and of the reactions, so that everyone will know that force is no solution. Dealing with the root causes, including the occupation of Palestine and Iraq, will contribute to removing the danger.

"State terrorism, represented by America and Israel"

"The problem we face is state terrorism, represented by America and Israel, in addition to the terrorism of individuals backward in mind and action. We must continue to utterly reject considering resistance for the purpose of liberation to be terrorism, since such resistance represents a movement to liberate land and people.

"Iraq continues to suffer from blood pouring from the bodies of innocent people and from an occupation cunningly planning for its forces to remain in Iraq to realize its strategic plans for protecting its overall interests, rather than the welfare of the Iraqi people, whose scene has turned into the scene of all sorts of terrorism and of sectarian slogans by means of which the enemies are plotting religious strife, civil war and all-destructive anarchy. Well-intentioned people are led to raise a loud voice for the Iraqis to hold fast to their consciousness and unity, which are the safety plank on which they can cross to a future of freedom and openness in their private and public circumstances. They should consider dialogue to be the only method for solving their various problems."

Turning to the situation in Lebanon, Fadlallah said: "Lebanon is being subjected to certain cases of stirring up blind strife. Certain night-flying bats are inciting dark feelings of hatred in the Islamic sphere, which is still confronting the Israeli occupation in Palestine, the American occupation in Iraq and international arrogance in the most resistant places in the Arab and Islamic world. The purpose is to distract Muslims and through them the Lebanese, with religious and sectarian strife, so that their powerful wind dissipates in vain. We warn everyone against these discordant voices and hidden satanic whisperings being raised by more than one stealthy whisperer.

"Furthermore, we want those in charge of the country's affairs to draw up a comprehensive plan that calls to account all who have corrupted the country, squandered public funds and caused havoc. This should be done through a unified position based on creating a new future for the Lebanon that the Lebanese desire in their politics, economy and security. Reconciliation should be emphasized in a serious, realistic manner in which everyone agrees on policy lines to preserve the country from Israeli and international interventions. In this way, a free Lebanon will be the Lebanon of all generations. Young people will take root in their homeland and feel no need to emigrate from it."

Prime Minister Siniora's telephone message [as published]

Sayyid Fadlallah received a telephone call from Prime Minister Fu'ad Siniora, who deplored the statements targeting Fadlallah. The call was an opportunity to discuss general conditions in Lebanon and the region.