http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/17/ ... ollah.html

WASHINGTON As rising instability in Lebanon increases tensions in the Middle East, the Bush administration is arguing with European governments over whether they should designate the Lebanon-based Shiite group Hezbollah a terrorist organization, U.S. and European officials say.
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The United States is already stepping up pressure on Iran and Syria, Hezbollah's main sponsors. The U.S. rift with Syria deepened this week, with suspicions that Syria might have been behind the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister in Beirut on Monday.
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The disagreement over Hezbollah presents another challenge for President George W. Bush, who will travel to Europe on Sunday on a mission to mend ruptures with Europe over the Iraq war.
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In the last two weeks, the officials said, France had rebuffed appeals by both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, to list Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, which would prevent it from raising funds in Europe through charity groups. The United States has long called Hezbollah a terrorist organization, but the French, according to U.S. and European officials, have opposed doing so, and argue that making such a designation now would be unwise, given the new turbulence in Lebanon.
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Israeli and U.S. officials say that the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has told them that he too regards Hezbollah as a destructive force in the Middle East, one determined to undermine peace talks by supporting militant groups that attack Israeli citizens.
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The officials and diplomats interviewed declined to give their names, saying they did not want to be seen as worsening tensions between the United States and Europe on the eve of Bush's trip. The Europeans are not solidly opposed to listing Hezbollah as a terrorist group, the officials said. The Netherlands, Italy and Poland support the Bush administration's view, several said, while Germany and Britain believe the issue is moot unless the French change their minds. One European diplomat said other countries were "hiding behind" France on the issue.
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Hezbollah, which is based in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, gets much of its financial support from Syria and Iran, U.S. officials say. But besides carrying out attacks on civilians and opposing Israel, Hezbollah also provides social services to thousands of Lebanese Shiites and has political representatives in Lebanon's Parliament.
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"This is a difficult issue because Hezbollah has military operations that we deplore, but Hezbollah is also a political party in Lebanon," said a European official. "Can a political party elected by the Lebanese people be put on a terrorist list? Would that really help deal with terrorism? Now with Lebanon in a fragile state, is this the proper moment to take such a step?"
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A European diplomat said that the issue of calling Hezbollah a terrorist organization was discussed in Brussels on Wednesday at a meeting of the Clearing House, a unit of the European Union that meets in confidential sessions to review terrorism in Europe. The group could reach no consensus, the diplomat said.