November 6, 2001	Tuesday	Shaba’an 19, 1422

BEIRUT: The chances of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, singled out by the United States as a target in its war on terrorism, giving up on its fight against Israel are virtually nil, analysts said on Monday.

Beirut press reports said the Lebanese authorities, who were officially informed on Friday of the US demand to freeze Hezbollah assets, will respond with a resounding “No.”

Lebanon is politically under the thumb of its larger neighbour Syria, which along with Iran backs Hezbollah to the hilt, calling it a legitimate resistance movement, notably against Israel’s continued occupation of the disputed Shebaa Farms area.

The leading Beirut daily As-Safir, which is viewed as being close to the Syrian leadership, quoted government sources as saying that the US demands would be rejected, no doubt at the weekly cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq Al-Shara for his part said in Damascus on Sunday that to “describe those organizations that are fighting Israeli occupation in Palestine and in Lebanon as ‘terrorists’ is shameful.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri’s own newspaper, Al- Mustaqbal also said, “the government is heading for a refusal to freeze Hezbollah money or to interfere with the resistance.”

Hezbollah itself responded defiantly to Friday’s announcement in Washington that it was included alongside Palestinian movements on a list of 22 “terrorist” organizations whose assets should be frozen.

Its Secretary General, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, said on Sunday it was both “logical” and “an honour” for Hezbollah to feature on the list, having “refused ... to abandon the resistance ... and to stop its support for the Palestinian people.”

On Saturday, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, following in Washington’s footsteps, also announced a freeze on the assets of 25 organizations deemed to be ‘terrorist’, including Hezbollah.

A western diplomat said, “there has to be an overall peace settlement in the Middle East, including the issue of Jerusalem, for Hezbollah to re-position itself and become an ordinary political party.”

Following the end of Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon in May 2000, Beirut has continued to support Hezbollah for four reasons:

— Lebanon lays claim to the Shebaa Farms, captured by Israel from Syria in 1967, with the consent of Damascus.

— Israel is still holding Lebanese opponents, often without trial.

— The issue of the right of return of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon must be resolved before peace can be discussed.

— The Syrian issue, with the claim for the return of the Golan Heights seized by Israel in 1967, is seen as inseparable from the Lebanese issue. —AFP