US refuses to negotiate with Hezbollah
25/7/2006 17:07
The White House said on Monday that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization
and the United States refuses to negotiate with such a militant group.
"With
whom do you negotiate in Hezbollah? It's not like they have a secretary of
state. It's not like they have a foreign ministry. It's a terror organization.
And therefore it is impractical to think that one can negotiate with it," White
House spokesman Tony Snow said at a briefing.
The United States would only
hold talks with the government of Lebanon, Snow said, adding that US Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice is visiting Beirut and holding meetings with Lebanese
officials.
The Bush administration has defended the military action Israel
took against Hezbollah, claiming that Israel is defending itself and the Bush
administration has accused Hezbollah of starting the conflicts by abducting two
Israeli soldiers.
However, the international community has called for an
immediate cease-fire between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah, as the conflicts
have killed over 300 Lebanese, wounded over 1,000 and forced over 500,000 people
to leave their homes.
Xinhua news
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