Khatami

Khatami praises Hezbollah fight against Israel in Lebanon

May 15, 1999

                DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Iranian President Mohammad
                Khatami hailed the Hezbollah guerrilla group Saturday as an
                "ideological and humanitarian movement" that is trying to liberate
                Lebanese territory from Israeli occupation.

                Khatami's remarks following a meeting with Hezbollah's
                Secretary-General Sheik Hassan Nasrallah came a day after he
                pledged support for Palestinians opposed to the Mideast peace
                process.

                Khatami's meeting with leaders of militant Palestinian factions
                and his strong support for continued resistance against Israel
                "worries" the United States, Martin Indyk, the U.S. State
                Department's envoy to the Near East said in an interview with the
                Lebanese daily As-Safir.

                "It is hard not to conclude that Iran is still strongly opposed to the
                peace process and backs these organizations that adopt the
                policy of violence against the process," the paper quoted Indyk
                as saying Saturday.

                Tehran's support for hard-line Palestinian groups such as Hamas
                and Islamic Jihad, which have launched bombing campaigns in
                Israel, has been condemned by the United States.

                Washington has made cautious overtures to Iran following the
                May 1997 election of Khatami, who represents a new moderation
                in Tehran. His election prompted a series of tentative feelers on
                both sides, but President Bill Clinton's offer of a dialogue has
                been rejected by Tehran.

In the As-Safir interview, Indyk criticized Iran for failing to respond
adequately to the U.S. overtures.

                Khatami met Saturday with Nasrallah under tight security at the
                Iranian Embassy in Damascus. Iran provides Hezbollah with
                arms, as well as financial and moral assistance.

                Hezbollah is "an ideological and humanitarian movement that
                seeks liberation and independence," Khatami said in remarks
                carried by Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Hezbollah, he said, was trying "to protect the unity and
independence of Lebanese territories."

                The Iranian president also met Saturday with a senior Shiite
                Muslim Lebanese cleric, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein
                Fadlallah, who is widely thought to be Hezbollah's spiritual
                guide. And he held talks with Lebanese Druze leader Walid
                Jumblatt and Lebanese members of parliament.

Before leaving for Saudi Arabia, Khatami held separate meetings
with Syrian President Hafez Assad and his son, Bashar.

                In a statement issued by the presidential palace, Syria and Iran
                called for an end to Israeli occupation of Arab territories,
                including an unconditional troop pullout from southern Lebanon.
                They also described Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon as "a primary
                reason for increased tension and instability in the region."

                Khatami's visit to Saudi Arabia, a continuation of his effort to
                improve Iran's often-troubled ties with its Arab neighbors, will be
                the first by an Iranian president since Iran's 1979 Islamic
                revolution.

                There, he was expected to discuss increased oil and economic
                cooperation between the two Gulf heavyweights, inaugurate a
                new Iranian consulate in Red Sea port city of Jiddah and visit the
                Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina.