WASHINGTON, 16 March 2005 — President Bush yesterday left open the possibility that the militant Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah could be part of the political mainstream in Lebanon despite its terrorist past.
“We view Hezbollah as a terrorist organization,” Bush said after an Oval Office meeting with Jordan’s King Abdallah. “I would hope that Hezbollah would prove that they are not by laying down arms and not threatening peace.”
Hezbollah has been involved in Lebanese politics for over a decade, with an extensive social welfare program and nine lawmakers in the current 128-seat parliament. But it has steered away from major decision-making in national politics as its army — the most organized and best-armed faction in Lebanon — focused on fighting Israel. Lebanon considers Hezbollah a legitimate resistance movement that led the guerrilla war against Israel’s 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon.
Lately, Hezbollah has been flexing its political muscle by organization two huge pro-Syrian rallies.
A UN Security Council resolution demands that Hezbollah disarm and that Syria, which has 14,000 troops in Lebanon and has enormous control over political affairs there, withdraw its soldiers. The United States has long listed the Iranian-founded, anti-Israeli Shiite Muslim group as a terrorist organization.
Some European leaders and some in Lebanon have been urging the United States to back moves to nudge Hezbollah into mainstream, legitimate political life in Lebanon. Bush appeared open to the idea, emphasizing the chance for Hezbollah to change its ways even as he issued new warnings to the group.
“One of our concerns, the majesty and I discussed, is that Hezbollah may try to derail the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians,” Bush said. “Hezbollah has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States because of terrorist activities in the past.”
Earlier yesterday in a Beirut suburb, about 2,000 pro-Syrian demonstrators protesting US interference in Lebanon marched toward the US Embassy. On Monday, the opposition to the country’s pro-Syrian government organized a huge demonstration of its own that brought about a million people into the capital.
Also, as Bush spoke, Syrian military intelligence were clearing out headquarters in Beirut and vacating another office in the capital. Syria has been moving its troops from northern and central Lebanon to eastern positions closer to the border.
Bush’s meeting with Abdallah came in the wake of the Jordanian leader’s announcement earlier this year that he would introduce limited democratic reforms by establishing elected councils to oversee development.
Bush has portrayed recent elections in Iraq and the Palestinian territories as part of a trend toward democracy that he wants to see spread throughout the Middle East. The president has promised to push autocratic regimes in the region to yield to local demands for reform.
Bush said that the United States is hoping to encourage further democratic reform in Jordan in part by pursuing freer economic trade between the two countries, and thus greater prosperity for the people of Jordan. He also praised Abdallah’s “understanding about the need for reform.”
“His Majesty leads a great country in the midst of a part of the world that is changing, changing for the better,” Bush said. “The other way to encourage reform is to herald examples of reformers, people who are willing to put mechanisms in place that respond to the voice of the people. And His Majesty has done that.”
Abdallah said their talks centered on how “to try and make the Middle East a better place,” including the need for regional reform.
“As always, we’ve come away with some very good ideas and a decent way of being able to look at the future,” he said.
