British FM: US Comfortable with Britain΄s Dialogue with Hizbullah
Source: As-Safir, 6-4-2009
Bill Rammell, Britain's Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, defended his administration's decision to hold talks with Hizbullah, confirming that the new US administration under President Barack Obama is "comfortable" with the British government's attempts to engage Hizbullah in negotiations.
Speaking to Lebanese daily As-Safir, Rammell said that the US administration does not object to the fledgling contacts with what he called the political wing of Hizbullah. "We have a different approach on this issue at the moment with the United States," he said. "But it's not an issue of disagreement in intentions. The feedback we had on Lebanon is that the Americans are comfortable with us doing things differently than they are."
Rammell said the British effort to engage Hizbullah would proceed incrementally, in an attempt at "testing the waters." He said the West must acknowledge what he described as "positive changes" that have taken place in Lebanon over the last few months, including the formation of a unity government and the appointment of a consensus president.
Rammell pointed to Hizbullah's increased involvement in Lebanon's ordinary political life, with "Hizbullah MPs sitting side by side with their opponents" in parliament.
