LONDON — The British government said Thursday that it was re-establishing contact with the political wing of the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. The move came four years after Britain broke off that relationship and moved to align with the United States in designating Hezbollah as a proscribed terrorist group.
A Foreign Office spokesman said the move had been discussed in advance with the United States. Diplomats said the announcement appeared to have been timed to follow the two-day visit to Washington this week by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who met with President Barack Obama at the White House and addressed a joint session of Congress.
Middle East experts said Britain’s move appeared to have been encouraged by the Obama administration’s offer to open talks with Iran and to send emissaries for discussions with Syria, as part of a wider initiative by Obama to talk with adversary nations shunned by the Bush administration.
Britain, with other European nations, these experts said, had long favored a turn toward a broader dialogue with nations and groups in the Middle East that have been regarded as adversaries of Israel, believing the policy of isolation favored under President George W. Bush had impeded the prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement and a broader lowering of tensions in the region. John F. Burns, The New York Times
