Bush asks Hizbollah to lay down arms for legitimacy
Reuters, Washington
President Bush held out the prospect of legitimacy for the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah on Tuesday by saying it can prove it is not a terrorist organisation by laying down its arms. US officials have said they could accept a political role for Hizbollah in Lebanon if it disarmed. The group has been blamed for launching attacks against Israel from southern Lebanon. But the organisation is also a political party, with deputies in the Lebanese parliament, and last week it showed its power by drawing hundreds of thousands of people to central Beirut for a pro-Syria rally. The rally appeared aimed at deflating a US-led drive to pressure Syria to pull out troops from Lebanon.
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