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Al-Ahed Telegram

UK Tendency to Talk to Hizbullah Frets US

UK Tendency to Talk to Hizbullah Frets US
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Source: Al-Manar TV, 13-3-2009

The British initiative to talk to Hizbullah has emerged as a worrisome development for the US, in contrast with a State Department stance last week that gave no sign of displeasure at London's move, "even if the US was not ready to follow Britain's lead".

A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity said Thursday he was "unhappy" with the British decision.

On the 6th of March, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband revealed that London had authorized low-level contact with the political wing of the Hizbullah. Britain has recently enrolled the party's military wing on its "terror list."

However, the official position in the US is in the grey zone.
Last week, Gordon Duguid, a State Department spokesman said "we are not ready to take the same step...We will watch how that (talks) proceeds. Also last week, a State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity told reporters that Washington envisioned "possible benefits from the British decision."

Analysts say that the British move comes amidst a feeling that a new era had begun in the region since US President Barack Obama took office. "Britain sensed a new era has begun in the region (Middle East). Obama promised many changes - not in terms of US goals or vital and strategic interests - but in terms of achieving them, and this necessitates a new trend in handling the world," Lebanese political expert Sarkis Naoum told Al-Manar.

"The British openness or the restoration of contact and dialogue with Hizbullah is a move on the right track and the party will weigh how this development can be translated on the ground," Ibrahim Moussawi, Hizbullah's Media Relations Chief, told Al-Manar.

Contrary to Britain's flexible position, the US had renewed its conditions to talk to Hizbullah, on top of which is the recognition of ""Israel's" right to exist. Yet, some believe that the notion of the US talking to Hizbullah is a precedent in the country that has been portraying the party as a terrorist organization.
"For the US, to say that it will not talk to Hizbullah unless the party does this and that, this means that back in the American mind, the possibility of making contact with the party is crystallizing, however the circumstances of the dialogue remain attached to many factors and anticipated developments," Naoum said.

For its part, Hizbullah still regards the Palestinian cause as the main gateway to talks with Washington. "We have to see whether the US administration is ready to regard the Palestinians as an oppressed and occupied people and whether Washington will acknowledge the right of this people to gain back its rights and land," Moussawi stressed.

The British move has not yet materialized into concrete steps and the Hizbullah leadership will undoubtedly react to it with great deal of caution amid increasing indications in the region of changes in every possible direction.

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