British Foreign Minister: We Have Stopped Contacts with Hizbullah

British Foreign Minister: We Have Stopped Contacts with Hizbullah

British Foreign Minister David Miliband told the London daily Al-Hayat that the Arab world could not be neatly divided into 'moderates' and 'extremists,' and that he distinguished between Al-Qaeda, which is a global organization, and organizations of a local character, such as the Taliban.

Miliband called on the Afghani government to prepare the ground for dialogue in order to allow anyone who is not connected with Al-Qaeda and who opposes violence and terrorism to play a role in the political arena.

Miliband stated that Britain still regarded Hizbullah's military arm as a terrorist organization, but that it had nevertheless agreed to contacts with Hizbullah MPs. He added, however, that these contacts had been stopped after the first meeting, because Britain had opposed Hizbullah's demand to film the proceedings for fear that the images would be used as propaganda in the Lebanese elections.

Source: Al-Hayat, London, May 24, 2009