Hezbollah slams US Defense Secretary Gates over arms accusations, vows to continue arming

Hezbollah slams Gates’ remarks over weapons

BEIRUT — A Lebanese Hezbollah official has slammed comments by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates accusing the militant group of having far more rockets and missiles than most governments in the world.

Lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah says there is a “great difference” between Hezbollah’s weapons and those of the U.S. and its ally Israel. He pledged the group would continue to acquire weapons.

Fadlallah’s comments were published by the Lebanese daily As-Safir on Wednesday. They were a response to Gates’ statements on Tuesday accusing Syria of supplying Hezbollah with increasingly sophisticated weaponry.

Israel has claimed that Syria provided Hezbollah with long-range Scud missiles. Both Syria and Lebanon’s Western-backed prime minister have rejected the charge.