US says Hezbollah complicit in attacks

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States said that Hezbollah was at "minimum" complicit in recent rocket attacks against Israel launched from southern Lebanon but could not confirm if Al-Qaeda was also involved.

"We don't have any information to corroborate claims by Al-Qaeda that they are behind the attacks," said State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.

The Al-Qaeda network in Iraq issued a statement on an Islamist website claiming responsibility for the rocket attacks on northern Israel but the statement's authenticity has yet to be confirmed. It would be the first time Al-Qaeda claims to have staged an attack on Israel.

Ereli said militant groups opposed to Israel's existence such as Hezbollah exerted control over southern Lebanon and that the Katusha rocket attacks on Wednesday could not have been launched from the area without their approval.

"What we do know is that those attacks came from southern Lebanon and that the people in control of southern Lebanon are terrorist groups and these attacks could not have happened without them letting them," the spokesman said.

"Whether directly implicated or indirectly implicated, it could not have happened without their, at a minimum, tacit involvement. And that is too much."

Ereli said the rocket attacks underscored why it was crucial to carry out UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for the disbanding of armed militias and the restoration of the Lebanese government's authority over its entire territory.

It was also "necessary for Syria and Iran to stop funding arms and training and support to terrorist groups in southern Lebanon," he said.