Aug. 22, 2006 13:47 | Updated Aug. 22, 2006 16:46

Lebanon may attempt to break blockade
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

A Hizbullah Cabinet minister on Tuesday said the government may attempt to break the Israeli naval and air blockade of Lebanon by calling on ships and aircraft to travel to Lebanese ports without prior Israeli approval.

The government has condemned the blockade, saying it violates the UN cease-fire resolution, and the foreign minister Tuesday called on the international community to force Israel to end the blockade. The Cabinet met late Monday but did not publicly challenge to the blockade, although it called the siege one of Israel's "terrorist practices."

"Entry to Lebanon by sea and from air is a matter of sovereignty," Tarrad Hamadeh, minister of Labor said on Hizbullah television. Hamadeh, one of two Hizbullah Cabinet ministers, said the Lebanese "must have be free to enter their country at will. We cannot accept the siege and blackmail."

If Lebanon attempts to run the blockage Israel must sink any ship or shoot down any aircraft that trys.