Beirut  - The head of the Christian-dominated Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, hit back Friday at Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for accusations against his party regarding the fate of four Iranians who went missing in Lebanon in 1982.

"Who can explain the pressing interest of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in the four Iranian diplomats, who were kidnapped during the (1975- 1990 Lebanese) civil war? Is this issue more important than Lebanese detainees in the Syrian prisons?" Geagea asked in a press conference at his residence, north of Beirut.

Geagea made his remarks in response to a demand by Nasrallah that the Lebanese Forces reveal any information it had on the fate of the Iranians who were kidnapped by the group in 1982.

"They were kidnapped by the Lebanese Forces and this party, which as a part of the Lebanese government today, can give us facts on his issue," Nasrallah said Thursday.

"Sayyed Nasrallah should have asked the Lebanese state, since he knows it has information on this issue," Geagea responded.

On July 4, 1982, during Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982, four employees of the Iranian embassy in Beirut went missing, allegedly kidnapped by Christian militiamen, who were Israel's allies at the time.

According to reports, the four were stopped at an inspection point in north Lebanon by the Lebanese Forces while en route to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria. It is presumed they were then moved to Beirut where they were executed. However, their fate has never been fully determined.

The reported missing Iranians are: Military attaché Ahmad Motevaselian Charge d'Affaires Seyed Mohsen Mousavi, driver, Taghi Rastegar Moghadam and Kazem Akhavan, an IRNA correspondent photojournalist.

Geagea said Nasrallah should have questioned the fate of the many people who went missing at the hands of Hezbollah and others during the civil war, or the identity of those who were responsible for assassinating foreign diplomats, such as US Ambassador to Lebanon Francis Meloy, Jr in 1976.

Geagea accused Hezbollah of making false accusations and carrying out smear campaigns against his party.

The anti-Syrian Christian leader described Nasrallah as "the legitimate representative of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Lebanon."

During 30 years of Syrian military presence in Lebanon, which ended in 2005, several people, including members of the Lebanese Forces, went missing. Some are still believed held in Syrian jails. Damascus in 2006 said there were no Lebanese detainees still in its prisons. (dpa)