BEIRUT, July 16, 2008 (Xinhua) -- Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah made a rare appearance at a public celebration for the release of the five Lebanese prisoners from Israel in the southern suburbs of Beirut Wednesday evening.

    Nasrallah made a brief statement when he hugged and kissed the prisoners, but he pulled out of the ceremony for security reasons to give his speech later.

    He said "as I promised in 2000, time of defeat is over and time of victories has come."

    "This people can never be defeated," he added.