Bush Sees Hezbollah in Politics

During an Oval Office appearance with Jordan's King Abdullah II, Bush was asked if he would support a political role for Hezbollah, a group tied to the 1983 truck bombing at a Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 Americans.

"We view Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, and I would hope that Hezbollah would prove that they're not by laying down arms and not threatening peace," Bush told reporters.

Middle East experts said Bush's remarks appeared carefully scripted to send a message to Hezbollah that the United States might accept a role for the militant Shiite Muslim group once Syria withdrew its forces from Lebanon. By doing so, Bush probably hopes to lessen Hezbollah's opposition to a Syrian pullout, they said.

"President Bush is coming to two realizations on Hezbollah," said Edward Gabriel, former U.S. ambassador to Syria. "They are a force to be reckoned with inside Lebanon, and they're going to make it very difficult for America if they see America as an enemy."

Hezbollah has 20,000 guerrilla fighters in Lebanon, 12 seats in parliament, and it sponsors a broad network of hospitals, orphanages, schools and recreational centers.

In two major demonstrations within the last eight days, Hezbollah summoned hundreds of thousands of supporters to protest U.S. pressure on Damascus to withdraw its troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon. During the rallies, the group's members emphasized national unity, waving Lebanese flags instead of the trademark Hezbollah emblem, a fist clutching a gun.

Syrian President Bashar Assad last week promised a United Nations envoy that he would withdraw from Lebanon, as demanded in a U.N. resolution last year, but set no date. Bush has insisted that Syria withdraw before elections scheduled for May, so the Lebanese can vote without foreign intimidation or interference.

Bush is attempting "to let Hezbollah see that they don't have to hang on to Syria to see a way forward for themselves in the new Lebanon," Gabriel said.

The administration also can separate the issues of Syrian withdrawal and the disarming of Hezbollah by insisting that Syria leave first and then tackling the question of Hezbollah's status, he said.