The information office of Hizbullah (the Party of God) is deep in the heart of the Dahi, the southern slum suburbs of Beirut, a neglected place of twisting streets tight with traffic and shell-pocked buildings hung with fluttering lines of washing.
Unemployed youths oblivious to drizzling rain prop up the walls at street corners; roadbeds disintegrate into red sand, little boys in bright yellow vests collect cash for Hizbullah in glasssided boxes. But the Dahi, once a no-go area where westerners kidnapped by Shia Muslim militants were held, is now all-go, bustling with business, and at one with the Lebanese government on the issue of today - Israel's withdrawal from Southern Lebanon.
The local Hizbullah spokesman, Mr Ibrahim Musawi, is a slender, scholarly man, who wears a short beard and a blackand-white check tailored jacket. He speaks firm words in a soft voice. "No one in Lebanon and Syria opposes an unconditional Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon," he told The Irish Times. But Lebanon "will not negotiate an Israeli withdrawal" because "all Israel's conditions have been rejected by the government and Syria".
Hizbullah, he went on, "is not concerned with any negotiations . . . and is not in a position to give any guarantees" for the security of northern Israel.
"We are not prepared to give Israel presents and prizes for withdrawal . . . instead Israel should compensate the victims" of its shelling and bombing and "bear the political and financial consequences of its 20-year occupation.
Hizbullah will give Israel no pretext for attacking Lebanon once it withdraws.
On Israel's surrogate South Lebanon Army militia, Mr Musawi said: "Certain officers and individuals are guilty of high treason and cannot be pardoned. They know who they are and have already built their villas in Haifa [in Israel] or made arrangements for political asylum in Europe. Ordinary soldiers forced to join should be given parole [amnestied]. One of our [nine] members of Parliament has already submitted a proposal on this matter. So far, the others have been reluctant to adopt our proposal."
Mr Musawi does not believe Israel is ready to withdraw yet. "What is happening now is for the future."
The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanayhu, who has "stalled the peace process" on the Palestinian and Syrian tracks, has now proposed conditional acceptance of Security Council Resolution 425 only because he "wants to put on a good face", Mr Musawi claims. But Mr Netanyahu does not really mean to pull out yet because he "knows he will pay a high price by withdrawing . . . withdrawal means admitting defeat" by Hizbullah, he says. Israel cannot afford to make such an admission, Mr Musawi said. He also said that Hizbullah's relations with Tehran remain good following the election of the reformist President Muhammad Khatami in Iran. "The relationship is not between Hizbullah and one government or another, but it is a religious relationship."
Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, the Iranian spiritual guide "is our spiritual leader and our reference" he said. The Islamic revolution in Iran, he said, was not a "static but an evolving movement".