"The resistance gives the assurance that it has become more powerful in equipment and number after the July war" with Israel, said Hassan Fadlallah.

Hezbollah, which has both a political party as well as a militia, "will not refrain from reinforcing its capabilities," he told Lebanon's official news agency.

Hezbollah, which has repeatedly touted the strength of its resistance in the war summer against Israel two years ago, is part of a national unity government in Lebanon that was formed on July 11.

But negotiations on a policy statement were hampered by disputes on the key issue of the arsenal of Hezbollah, which has continued to insist on the "right to resist" Israel.

The policy statement insists on "the right of Lebanon, its people, its army and its resistance to liberate its land" that is occupied by Israel.

The controversy in Lebanon over Hezbollah's weapons intensified after its militants captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid in July 2006 that sparked the 34-day war.

It boiled over again when Hezbollah led an armed takeover of large swathes of predominantly Sunni west Beirut in fierce fighting in May that left 65 people dead and sparked fears of a return to all-out civil war.

The West has long suspected that Shiite Iran has been sending arms to Hezbollah and training its fighters inside the Islamic republic. However Tehran insists its support for the movement is purely moral.

© 2008 Agence France-Presse