Posted on 12/12/2001 1:04:04 PM PST by SamKeck
Abstract:
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Rep. Darrell Issa has met with the president of Lebanon to discuss Hezbollah, a group on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations that is based in the Middle Eastern nation.
Issa made no mention of Lebanon's refusal to freeze Hezbollah's bank accounts, but said the country was cooperating with the campaign against terrorism.
Hezbollah was widely believed to be behind a series of suicide bombings and kidnappings of Westerners during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war that killed more than 260 Americans, most of them Marines who died during a 1983 bombing attack. The group also runs schools and hospitals in Lebanon and has nine members in the 128-seat legislature.
Full Text:
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Rep. Darrell Issa has met with the president of Lebanon to discuss Hezbollah, a group on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations that is based in the Middle Eastern nation.
The Vista Republican, who is leading a congressional delegation to the region, spoke with reporters following his meeting Sunday with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Lebanon has refused a U.S. plea to name Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and said it will not freeze the guerrilla group's assets.
Lahoud has said Lebanon will not change its policy that Hezbollah wages a legitimate campaign against Israeli occupation of Arab land.
Issa, a Lebanese American, said Lahoud assured him that Hezbollah does not intend to attack targets overseas.
He quoted Lahoud as saying that Hezbollah is "of a local, not an international reach."
Issa made no mention of Lebanon's refusal to freeze Hezbollah's bank accounts, but said the country was cooperating with the campaign against terrorism.
"I believe that Lebanon's full and complete support for the war on terrorism and their repeated support for the ending of terrorist attacks . . . bodes very well for this country and for the world," he added.
Earlier in Damascus, Issa said Hezbollah must renounce terrorism and confine itself to its humanitarian and parliamentary activities in order to be removed from the U.S. list of terrorist organizations.
Hezbollah was widely believed to be behind a series of suicide bombings and kidnappings of Westerners during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war that killed more than 260 Americans, most of them Marines who died during a 1983 bombing attack. The group also runs schools and hospitals in Lebanon and has nine members in the 128-seat legislature.
Issa, who serves on the House Committee on International Relations, and three fellow congressmen are touring the Middle East.
They met Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Saturday and flew to Cairo on Sunday afternoon where they held talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher. They also were expected to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories. Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
With respect to certain insinuations made by others on Free Republic, to my knowledge, Mr. Issa has never made any public, or other, statement supportive of Hezbollah, but I'm willing to be proven wrong--provided such statements can be traced to reliable, and credible, sources.
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