Hezbollah works to gain international, domestic legitimacy

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- As its Syrian backers leave Lebanon, Hezbollah is seeking to transform its image domestically and in the West -- from guerrilla group condemned as terrorist by the United States to political party respected for playing a serious, productive role in Lebanese politics.

As part of this attempted makeover, Hezbollah sent a senior representative to a meeting in Beirut last month with American and British intellectuals, including former government and intelligence officials, to talk about the group, which Washington accuses of killing hundreds of Americans in terror attacks in the 1980s.

Among those who attended were about eight Americans, including Graham Fuller, former deputy head of the CIA's National Intelligence Council, and Robert Muller, head of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, as well as about six Europeans, who also included former officials, said Alastair Crooke, director of the Britain-based Conflicts Forum.

The gathering was "not intended to produce recommendations and conclusions," said Crooke, whose group organized the meeting. "It was about listening."

Jamal Khashoggi, media adviser to Prince Turki, the Saudi ambassador to London, who was present at the Beirut discussions, said the meeting offered the chance to "build tiny bridges" with factions the West rarely talks to, Khashoggi said.

"Nobody knows where it will lead," said Khashoggi.

Whether Hezbollah's attempt is genuine or just political opportunism remains to be seen. But even President Bush suggested Hezbollah could change its image when he called on it last month to lay down its arms and prove it was not a terrorist group.

In public addresses, Hezbollah's belligerent anti-Israel and anti-U.S. rhetoric has not abated. But away from a domestic audience, the group's shrewd, savvy leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, has said he is ready to discuss the current arrangement the party has had for years with the Lebanese army, a formula that has allowed it to continue bearing arms under the slogan of protecting Lebanon from Israeli aggression.

"We don't carry arms as a hobby, but we feel responsible toward our country," Nasrallah said last month.

One solution could be incorporating members of Hezbollah into the army and deploying them in the south -- which could satisfy the U.N. call for disarmament while also retaining Hezbollah's firepower.

The official said the rollback in Hezbollah activity is linked to Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank in the summer. He said the Palestinian factions realize that resumption of attacks against Israelis could delay or scuttle it.

Some analysts say the group wants to ensure a significant presence in any new Cabinet formed after Lebanese parliamentary elections expected before the end of May.

The Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri triggered international pressure on Syria to withdraw its troops, stationed in Lebanon for almost three decades. The Lebanese opposition has accused Damascus and its Lebanese agents of murdering Hariri, who had turned against Syria's presence in Lebanon.

With Syria gone, Hezbollah will field the only armed group in Lebanon outside the military, but that power can also play against it.

In Lebanon and the Arab world, Hezbollah has gained hero status for driving Israel out after an 18-year occupation. But Hezbollah has been on the State Department's list of terror groups since the list's inception in 1997.

Washington has been pushing Syria to disarm the group, and a price for a rapprochement between the two countries -- and indeed for an improvement of relations between Iran and the United States -- could be the disarming of Hezbollah. Both Syria and Iran back Hezbollah, with Tehran reportedly providing the group with an estimated $10 million to $20 million monthly. The political turmoil that followed Hariri's death -- including anti-Syrian protests, and the resignation of the government -- has presented Hezbollah with an opportunity to project itself as a capable conciliator and an indispensable player.

Last month, security-conscious Nasrallah, who is rarely seen in public, visited political and religious leaders to try to defuse the tensions and to reiterate that his group won't be drawn into a civil war.

Al-Mussawi said the meeting with the intellectuals aims at "boosting Hezbollah's political role."

"It's also an attempt to open a hole in the wall with a people for whom we harbor no enmity," he added.