White House says policy remains unchanged
צילום: רויטרס
U.S. denies major shift on Hizbullah
White House spokesman Scott McClellan says New York Times report “wrong”
WASHINGTON - U.S. officials have denied a New York Times report that the administration had made a sharp policy shift and was grudgingly going along with efforts by France and the United Nations to steer the Hizbullah into the Lebanese political mainstream.
"The report suggests that our view has changed on Hizbullah. It has not," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters traveling with President George W. Bush to Louisville, Kentucky.
Asked if the report was correct, McClellan said: "It's wrong."
However, the Bush administration would accept a political role for Hizbullah if it disarmed, U.S. Officials said.
A State Department official, who asked not to be identified, said there was recognition among U.S. Officials of the group’s political power but denied any policy change.
"We do have to live in the real world and unfortunately in that world people we really don't like do sometimes get into elected office.“ But just because we recognize …that reality does not mean we have changed our policy,” the official said.
EU brands Hizbullah a terror group
Hizbullah is on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations and has been singled out by Bush and others as one of the biggest obstacles to peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians by sponsoring attacks against Israel.
The Shiite Muslim group is funded and armed by Iran and receives support from Syria.
The group's power was on display in Beirut on Tuesday when hundreds of thousands of mostly Shiite supporters conducted a pro-Syria rally that dwarfed previous protests calling for Syria to pull 14,000 troops from Lebanon as demanded by the United States, France and other allies.
Earlier Thursday, The European Parliament decided to brand the Hizbullah as a terror group and called on EU ministers to takes steps against the organization.
