WASHINGTON,
July 2, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The Bush
administration faces growing resistance within the EU to a crackdown
on the Lebanese resistance movement Hizbullah, especially after its
strong showing in the legislative elections, diplomats and analysts
have said.
"We
don't have unanimity. And Syria's withdraw from Lebanon, if anything,
has made that unanimity less likely," an EU diplomat in
Washington told Reuters.
The
Bush administration already considers Hizbullah a terrorist
organization, and has been urging the EU to follow suit.
"Coming
off the elections and Hizbullah's success, there's going to be a lot
of resistance in Europe to taking further action on Hizbullah,"
said Matthew Levitt, a terrorism expert at the Washington Institute
for Near East Policy.
The
resistance group has picked up two additional seats in the 128-member
Lebanese legislature, bringing its total to 14.
And
for the first time, Hizbullah has agreed to join the government and is
expected to get two ministerial posts.
Viewed
by most Lebanese as a resistance force, the group played an
instrumental role in forcing Israel to end its 22-year occupation of
south Lebanon.
Blacklisting
Questioned
US
officials had hoped for a fresh push to disarm Hizbullah after the May
29-June 19 elections, according to congressional aides involved in the
deliberations.
However,
difference emerged with the EU over how to respond to the group's big
win at the ballot box in southern Lebanon and its envisaged role in a
new cabinet.
A
European diplomat said that it would be "very hard to put them on
the (terrorist) list" in light of the election results.
US-sponsored
UN resolution 1559 calls for the disarmament of all militias in
Lebanon, a term Hezbollah maintains does not apply on resistance.
In
March, the European Parliament branded Hizbullah a
"terrorist" group in a nonbinding resolution, and urged EU
ministers to take action against the organization.
But
several EU governments including France, Spain and Britain balked,
citing concerns about upsetting delicate Middle East negotiations.
Paris
has blocked an effort by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to
have Europe formally label the party a terrorist group, restricting
its fund-raising.
Under
the 1990 accords that ended Lebanon's civil war, the country's many
militias disarmed but Hizbullah was allowed to keep its weapons.
Lebanese
politicians and newspapers have described Hizbullah's clean sweep in
the second round of parliamentary elections as a carte blanche for the
group to retain its resistance arms against Israel.
US
officials said they would work with the new Lebanese government in the
coming months to fulfill UN demands for Hizbullah to be disarmed.
But
Lebanon's new prime minister, Fouad Siniora, said the fate of
Hizbullah's weapons were an internal Lebanese matter.
Nabih
Berri, the reelected speaker of the Lebanese legislature, has also
indicated that he would oppose efforts to disarm the resistance group.
