Israel Matzav

Britain 'open' to contacts with Hezbullah

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told Lebanon's English language Daily Star that his country is 'open' to contacts with Hezbullah.

Britain is willing to step-up contact with Hizbullah as they begin to play a bigger role in Lebanon’s government, Foreign Secretary David Miliband told The Daily Star in an exclusive interview. Miliband told the paper this week he believed “carefully considered contact with Hizbullah’s politicians, including its MPs, will best advance our objective of the group rejecting violence to play a constructive role in Lebanese politics.”

He said that the UK government was only interested in serious dialogue with members who “value the political process, not those that seek to undermine it,” and reiterated its firm opposition to those in Hizbullah supporting terrorism.

Miliband is basing his assertion on an imaginary distinction between Hezbullah's 'military wing' and its 'political wing.' But there is no difference between the two. This is what Hezbullah's number 2, Naim Qassem told the Los Angeles Times in April.

Neither Qassem nor Washington [no longer true regarding Washington - see below. CiJ] distinguish between the Shiite militant group's political wing, which has members serving in the Lebanese Cabinet and parliament, and its military wing, preparing for the next round of battle against Israel. "Hezbollah has a single leadership," said the 57-year-old cleric in a rare interview with an American reporter recently.

"All political, social and jihad work is tied to the decisions of this leadership," he said. "The same leadership that directs the parliamentary and government work also leads jihad actions in the struggle against Israel."

When you combine this with US Secretary of State Clinton's apparent acceptance of the military wing v. political wing distinction last week, you end up with a most disturbing trend.

What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:13 PM