LEBANON - Sept 22 - Hizbullah Leader Vows Not To Disarm.

The leader of Hizbullah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, delivers a defiant speech in front of hundreds of thousands of supporters, passionately reiterating that the group will not disarm and claims it still had 20,000 rockets. In his first public appearance since the Shi'ite militant group's 34-day war with Israel, Nasrallah said the movement had recovered all its organisational and military capabilities, adding that its focus would be now to push for a government of national unity - a direct challenge to the administration led by PM Fouad Siniora. "It is stronger than it was before July 12 [the day the conflict began]", he said, gesturing with his right arm towards crowds of people in a sea of yellow Hizbullah flags. "The resistance will never bow down to conditions. Any words about giving [up] the arms of the resistance in the present state would mean Lebanon will be exposed in front of Israel". The huge display of support for the group was viewed by some as a deliberate attempt by Hizbullah leaders to intimidate the government with a show of strength following weeks of political bickering between the pro-western parliamentary majority that backs Siniora and Hizbullah and its allies. "The current government is unable to protect Lebanon, or to reconstruct Lebanon or to unify Lebanon", he said. Earlier, as the crowd waited for the Hizbullah leader, chants of "Siniora get out" rang around the square. Nasrallah also warned against rising sectarian tensions. Some Sunni and Christians blame Hizbullah for triggering the war, but Nasrallah said anybody talking about divisions was "playing into the hands of Israel". "Please do not let anybody make the disunity that is politics become sectarian", he said. Hizbullah and allied Christian leader General Michel Aoun have been calling for a unity government since the war ended as they seek to turn the conflict to their political advantage. Lebanese officials and diplomats say the move is designed to give the group a blocking minority in the cabinet that would enable it to gain greater leverage and reduce the influence of the bloc that backs Siniora. At present Hizbullah has two ministers in the 24-member cabinet. Amal, another Shi'ite group also has two, while the foreign minister is a Shi'ite approved by Hizbullah. Gen. Aoun's party is outside the government. A Lebanese official said that while Hizbullah had not been specific, "the indications are that they want to do it, implying they need change in the government that will give them a blocking minority". The official said the group could also still be hedging its bets, saying Nasrallah's main concern was to stem the government's insistence that Hizbullah's disarmament stay on the agenda. The government says it will not try to forcibly disarm Hizbullah, but deems disarmament, as well as the Lebanese army asserting its authority in the south, as essential to future security. Siniora has insisted there would be no change of government. The danger is the tensions could push the country into a political crisis with an administration unable to function effectively. "If the Shi'ite ministers together resign and Aoun stands with them, then you have a sizeable proportion of the country withdrawing confidence in the government", the Lebanese official said. "Will they push us towards that? That is a big question". Dialogue between the groups has been at minimum since the conflict ended. Siniora has met senior Hizbullah leaders, but not since September 12. The mainly Sunni bloc that backs the PM has had no talks with the Shi'ite group since the war.