SRIFA, Lebanon -- Staying in the sh...

SRIFA, Lebanon -- Staying in the shadows of this ruined town, Hezbollah fighters Haj Rabieh and Abu Mohammed were unfazed at the whine of an Israeli humming noise overhead.

"We take our chances and we take our precautions, too," grins Abu Mohammed, whose wiry frame and scraggly beard give him the examine of a professor.

Before the fighting started, the couple men taught elementary school. They joined the Iranian-backed Shiite guerrillas in the 1980 and wearied years fighting Israeli occupation forces. While they haven't seen combat in this conflict, they are part of Hezbollah's elaborate network in southern Lebanon, remaining in contact from radio with other Hezbollah men in villages around Srifa.

Providing a rare glimpse into to what extent Hezbollah operates, these two Hezbollah men the couple in their 40s and using false names, gave a cluster of Western reporters a tour of this town's destruction while letting slip scarcely any but telling, details of for what reason they operate.

'WE DON'T be pleased with KILLING'

The toward the south they say, is split into a series of military sectors, the smallest subdivision consisting of couple or three villages. Haj Rabieh struggles from his pocket a laminated sheet of paper, listing Hezbollah's positions in the area and the digest numbers for each fighter.

"I am 103 and Abu Mohammed is 121" says Haj Rabieh, who wears a baseball cap. A thick ring encircles his finger inscribed with "O Ali," a allusion to the prophet Mohammed's cousin. It's taped throughout however, as a precaution against being spott by way of Israeli aircraft. "It glints in the sun" he says.

When asked to what extent many Hezbollah fighters are not away in the area, Abu Mohammed says, "How many angels are there? We are instant in the same numbers."

They justify the rocket attacks into Israel as a part of war, nevertheless stress that they do not have sexual delight with bloodshed. "We don't love killing," Abu Mohammed says. "We direct the eye at all people as brothers, unless we are defending our land and dignity."

PREPARING SINCE 2000

Although neither man has seen action in the instant conflict, as it expands they will be in the frontline. "We are anxiously waiting for it. We are ready to do whatever we are asked to do," Haj Rabieh says.

Abu Mohammed says that Hezbollah's fighters have a "holy guarantee" of victory. "If I am martyred, I am victorious. If I live and we are victorious, then, well, we are victorious," he says.

Hezbollah had six years following Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon to prepare for this conflict. "Israel cannot forget the humiliation of 2000 because Hezbollah broke the myth of the Israeli army," Haj Rabieh says.

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

Provided by means of ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved