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Hezbollah accuses US of seeking to dominate Lebanon

Hezbollah on Friday denounced a senior Pentagon official's call for a US "strategic partnership" with the Lebanese army, saying US attempts to boost military ties were a ploy for domination and could turn the country into another Iraq.

Washington has dramatically increased military aid to Lebanon's pro-Western government over the past year. On Thursday, US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman said the US wants to make military ties even closer, with a "strategic partnership" to strengthen the country's forces.

Edelman said in an interview with Lebanese Broadcasting Corp television that the building up of the military would mean Hezbollah would have no excuse to bear arms.

He comments came on the same day a Lebanese newspaper reported that Washington was proposing a treaty with Lebanon that would make it a strategic partner and lead to the creation of US bases.

The Lebanese government and the US ambassador in Beirut denied the report in the As-Safir newspaper and Edelman made no mention of bases in his comments.

The comments and the newspaper report brought quick condemnation from Hezbollah, an ally of Syria and Iran and the leading political opposition to the anti-Syrian government. The opposition, which is locked in a power struggle with the government, already accuses Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora of being too close to the US.

In a statement on Friday, Hezbollah said the US efforts were "part of a comprehensive plan to link Lebanon with the American project for the region ... under deceitful banners such as strategic partnership," it said.

Hezbollah, which Washington characterizes as a terrorist organization, accused the US of "interference" in Lebanese affairs, saying the US plan "and the dangers it encompass[es] could turn the country into another Iraq."

Some in Lebanon have expressed fears that a foreign military presence could attract al-Qaeda and other militants, as has happened in Iraq.

Syria, meanwhile, accused the US of threatening Lebanon's stability with its backing of the government in the country's political turmoil. In a letter sent to the UN on Thursday, it said US interference "has so far deepened divisions" by "clearly and openly siding with one Lebanese side after the other."

After last year's Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the US sharply increased its military assistance to Lebanon to US$270 million this year -- more than five times the amount provided a year ago -- in a show of support to Siniora.

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos arrived in Beirut late on Friday in the latest international bid to end a standoff between the government and the Hezbollah-led opposition.

Kouchner said on arrival that he had come to try and ensure the election within the constitutional deadline of a president who enjoys "backing from all communities."

The Lebanese parliament is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to elect a new president, but all indicators point to the session being postponed because of disagreement between the feuding factions, as also happened last month.
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