Hezbollah

LONDON - Britain is reestablishing contact with the militant group Hezbollah following the formation of a unity government in Lebanon, the British government said yesterday. The Foreign Office said that it has established contact with the group's political wing but still has no contact with its military wing. Britain ceased contact with members of Hezbollah in 2005 and listed the military wing as a proscribed terrorist organization last year. The Foreign Office said that it had reconsidered its position following positive developments in Lebanon.

BEIRUT - The leader of Lebanon's Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah appealed for calm Tuesday after people blocked roads and burned tires in Beirut to protest the kidnapping of 11 Lebanese Shi'ites in neighboring Syria. The abductions in Syria's northern Aleppo Province threatened to ignite dangerous sectarian tensions and fueled fears that Lebanon is getting drawn into the chaos next door. The Lebanese were on their way home from a religious pilgrimage in Iran when Syrian rebels intercepted their vehicles, Syria's state-run SANA news agency said.

BEIRUT — Tens of thousands of supporters of Lebanon’s pro-Western opposition thronged downtown Beirut yesterday, demanding that the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah give up its weapons. The rally was a potent show of support for Lebanon’s toppled prime minister, Saad Hariri, who moved into the opposition after Hezbollah and its allies withdrew from his government in January, forcing him out of power. “We want to place the weapons at the disposal of the state, because it is the state that unites us all and it is the army that protects us all,’’ Hariri said, shouting over...

The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah says his militant group has weapons that can accurately hit targets throughout Israel. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah told supporters via video link Friday that if a new war breaks out, the group will destroy targets in Israel for every building destroyed in Beirut. He said that Hezbollah is "capable of striking very specific targets not only in Tel Aviv but everywhere in occupied Palestine. " In 2006, Hezbollah and Israel fought a 34-day war that killed about 1,200 people in Lebanon and 160 in Israel.

BEIRUT — The Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah denied yesterday that it placed any demands on the billionaire businessman it chose to become prime minister of Lebanon. Hezbollah and its allies toppled Lebanon’s Western-backed government two weeks ago and secured enough support in Parliament to name Najib Mikati as their pick for prime minister. Critics have expressed concern that Mikati will be beholden to the militant group’s demands — something Mikati has also denied.

We know Hezbollah from television news, from the headlines, from magazine stories. We know it is a substantial power in the Middle East. We know it is pledged to endless war against Israel. We know it is shrewdly organized and its warriors are brave and determined. But we do not know Hezbollah. Now Thanassis Cambanis, himself shrewd, brave, and determined, has produced “A Privilege to Die,’’ which shows us a Hezbollah with a human face — a Hezbollah that nonetheless is a grave threat both to Israel and Western interests in the Middle East.

BEIRUT -- When Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon six years ago, the Arab world showered Hezbollah with praise. Today, Arabs are deeply divided about the militant group, with many vilifying it for provoking Israel's attack on Lebanon. Backers, however, voice pride in Hezbollah's ability to fight back, landing missiles deep inside Israel. The division springs from a reality that did not exist six years ago -- the rise to power of Shi'ites in Iraq and increasing tension between Shi'ites and Sunnis.

BEIRUT - A key Hezbollah ally warned yesterday that an international indictment of members of the Islamic militant group in the killing of former prime minister Rafik Hariri could lead to new civil strife in Lebanon. A high-ranking Hezbollah militant was among four people named in an indictment by the tribunal investigating Hariri’s 2005 assassination. The Shi’ite group denies any role in the killing and has vowed never to turn over any of its members. The warning yesterday also came from Walid Jumblatt, a partner in the government whose support would be...

BEIRUT - Lebanon's new president got a red carpet welcome yesterday, but was quickly thrust into the political thicket as Hezbollah's leader warned against any efforts to disarm his Iranian-backed guerrilla group. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah delivered his stern message after military bands and an honor guard saluted President Michel Suleiman on his first day on the job. Suleiman, the former army commander, was a consensus candidate agreed on by both Hezbollah and its pro-Western political foes, but he drew pointed comments from Nasrallah after saying in his inauguration speech Sunday...

BEIRUT - Western-backed billionaire Saad Hariri pledged yesterday to work for a national unity government that includes his Hezbollah rivals shortly after he was appointed by the president to become the country’s next prime minister. An alliance led by the 39-year-old, son of slain former prime minister Rafik Hariri, fended off a challenge from the Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies in parliamentary elections this month. Hariri’s nomination - and his conciliatory statements - signal more willingness on the majority’s part to placate...

An Iraqi court on Monday declared a Hezbollah commander accused of killing U.S. solders in Iraq in 2007 not guilty for lack of evidence and ruled that he be set free. The case of Ali Mussa Daqduq has been a thorn in diplomatic relations between Baghdad and Washington since the American military pullout last December. U.S. terror experts have described Daqduq as among "the worst of the worst" militants who would remain a severe threat to Americans if freed. He is a Lebanese commander for Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group linked to numerous deadly attacks.

JERUSALEM - A senior Israeli counterterrorism official said yesterday that Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah are plotting attacks on Israelis overseas and urged travelers to be vigilant. Israel already has accused Iran of being behind three attacks this week on Israeli targets - a botched bomb plot in Thailand, a bombing in India that wounded an Israeli diplomat's wife, and an attempted bombing in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. The senior official from Israel's counterterrorism bureau did not identify...

BANGKOK - Three Iranians detained after accidentally setting off explosives in Bangkok were planning to attack Israeli diplomats, Thailand's top policeman said yesterday in the first confirmation by local officials that the group plotted attacks in Thailand. Israel has strongly accused Iran of being behind the botched plot, a bombing in India and an attempted bombing in the former Soviet republic of Georgia this week, which Iran has denied. Citing the similarity of bombs used in New Delhi and Tbilisi, national police chief General Prewpan Dhamapong said that Thai authorities now "know for...

Thailand says it has recognized Palestine as an independent state. Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said Friday that Thailand has informed the Palestinian delegation and all member states at the United Nations in New York that it "has given recognition to the state of Palestine. " The move comes as Palestine pushes for full membership at the U.N., a bid Washington opposes because it says a political settlement with Israel must be reached first. Thailand has friendly ties with Israel and is a major tourist destination for...

BEIRUT - Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, made a rare public appearance yesterday in Beirut, reiterating his support for Syria's government and claiming that his group was better trained and armed than ever. "I want to deliver a message that is not new, but final and conclusive to all those who are conspiring and hoping and betting on change," Nasrallah said. "This resistance in Lebanon will survive and you will not be able to defeat it through your psychological, media, political, and intelligence wars.

WARRIORS OF GOD: Inside Hezbollah"s Thirty-Year Struggle Against Israel By Nicholas Blanford Random House, 522 pp., $30 In "Warriors of God: Inside Hezbollah's Thirty-Year Struggle Against Israel," author Nicholas Blanford provides a meticulous yet largely one-dimensional examination of the on-again, off-again confrontation between Lebanon and Israel, a bloody encounter that has over the years detached itself from...

BEIRUT — A potential kingmaker in Lebanese politics threw his support yesterday behind Hezbollah, a major boost to the Shiite militant group that brought down the country’s Western-backed government last week. Walid Jumblatt, the influential leader of the Druze sect, refused to say exactly how many lawmakers are with him, but his support is key ahead of parliamentary talks Monday to pick a new prime minister. The announcement is the latest twist in a political crisis pitting the Syrian-backed Hezbollah against caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who said he will seek the...

BEIRUT - Unchallenged by Lebanon's army, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah routed Sunnis loyal to the US-allied government and seized control of large areas of Beirut's Muslim sector yesterday in a telling demonstration of its military prowess. The Shi'ite fighters' success in three days of street fighting dramatically strengthened the hand of the Hezbollah-led opposition in the bitter political struggle with pro-Western factions over who will guide the country. But Hezbollah leaders signaled that they weren't looking for a bloody showdown by pulling back their...

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is considering a military trial in the United States for a Hezbollah commander now detained in Iraq, US counterterrorism officials said, previewing a potential prosecution strategy that has failed before but may offer a solution to a difficult legal problem for the government. While the United States hasn't made a decision, officials said a tribunal at a military base may be the best way to deal with Ali Mussa Daqduq, who was captured in Iraq in 2007.