By Syed Saleem Shahzad

SOUTH LEBANON - Over the past days, this correspondent has met many Hezbollah field commanders on the war front, as well as in other parts of Lebanon, but they have been too concentrated on their military campaign to offer any real insights.

Similarly, Hezbollah ideologues and, of late, even parliamentarians have gone underground to avoid Israeli spies, or even being attacked.

However, after an arduous process spread over several days, Asia Times Online managed to arrange an interview with Sheikh Bilal. Bilal, who wears a white turban and a black robe, is a close aide of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and in charge of a region in south Lebanon.

He is also an ideologue of Hezbollah, having been educated in the Iranian city of Qom and then sent by the Iranian leader ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini back to Lebanon to "guide" Hezbollah.

Bilal comes from the Dahieh district of Beirut, but constant bombing of the area forced him to leave his home. He agreed to meet this correspondent on condition that no hint of the location would be given.

Sporting a small white beard, Bilal sat in front of a picture of Nasrallah, but refused to have his own picture taken.

Asia Times Online: How do you view the Israeli plans? Will they be able to push into south Lebanon and destroy Hezbollah's arms?

Bilal: Israel is the fourth-strongest power in the world. The Americans, British and even Arab countries support its designs, but I tell you, despite all of this, the whole war is in our hands, not in the hands of Israel. We are pulling the strings of this war, not the Israeli war machine. It is because Allah is with us.

Even though they [Israelis] are very powerful, they believe in a tangible life in which they eat, sleep and entertain, and then die. We believe in eternal life, which starts from our apparent death [Bilal then quoted a long phrase from Nahjul Balagha (The Peak of Eloquence) - a collection of sermons, precepts, prayers, epistles and aphorisms of Imam Ali to support his statement.]

ATol: But still, you are an organization. Israel is a state. There is surely no match?

Bilal: But the question is, who has better control over the battlefield? I accept Hezbollah is not a conventional army. We are just hit-and-run guerrillas. Israel is trying to get into Lebanon with its 30,000 men equipped with the best war equipment. Has it achieved anything? No. Its achievement is zero because it has failed to inflict any serious losses on Hezbollah. I swear to you, Israel has only one edge on us, and that is its air force.

Were the air force removed from over our heads, we would go deep inside Israel and liberate Palestine. The whole Israeli activity is a brutal bombardment of civilians and on the infrastructure. But when they finish with their spray of guns and expect a free walkway into south Lebanon and go for a military push, we will catch them in the middle and force them to retreat. In about a month of war they have not even established exactly where we are based and how and from where we confront them.

ATol: There was a time when Palestine was a matter of honor for Arab nations. They fought many wars against Israel, but now when Hezbollah confronts Israel, why do Arab countries criticize Hezbollah?

Bilal: They are scared that any appreciation or encouragement of Hezbollah would encourage other resistance movements in their own country and ultimately the present rulers would lose their governments and Islamic movements would take over control. For instance, Egypt and Jordan are fearful of Iqwanul Muslemeen [Muslim Brotherhood]. The Muslim Brotherhood tried to take to the streets in Egypt in favor of Hezbollah, but the Egyptian government suppressed them with force. This is the situation of this whole region.

ATol: Hezbollah and the Brotherhood are very close. What is the secret of their closeness, despite Hezbollah being Shi'ite and the Brotherhood predominately Sunni?

Bilal: Yes, this is true that we are close and we both work for the Islamic cause beyond any sectarian differences. But let me tell you that does not mean that we like takfiris [those militantly intolerant of "infidels"] like al-Qaeda. We hate them because they kill innocent people and destroy sacred places.

ATol: Hamas and Islamic Jihad also believe in Salafi Islam, like al-Qaeda. Yet Hezbollah is close with them.

Bilal: We have one thing in common, and that is Islam. And because of that we support them. And another aspect is the liberation of Palestine, which is central to all Muslims. We do not care whether they are Salafis or not. We are committed to the Palestinian cause, and for that we can go to any lengths.

You want to know what this war is all about? We understood that after the abduction of Israeli soldiers in Gaza, Israel was ready to raze Gaza. And then we came into the picture and diverted all their attention to us [by abducting Israeli soldiers]. This forced Israel to disengage from taking on the weak Palestinians and engage our forces.

ATol: Do Hezbollah's designs go beyond Lebanon?

Bilal: Hezbollah is only for Lebanon. We do not have any designs beyond Lebanon or Palestine.

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Syed Saleem Shahzadis Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com.