| Australia’s foreign minister sharply criticized an opposition party lawmaker on Tuesday after a news report said the legislator met in Lebanon with the leader of Hezbollah in 2001. "A member of parliament who meets with a terrorist organization needs to reflect on the victims of that terrorist organization," said Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer, referring to longtime Labor Party lawmaker Leo Mcleay. Hezbollah’s armed wing has been listed as a terror organization by Australia and the United States, but the Lebanese government says it represents legitimate resistance against what Lebanon regards as Israel’s occupation of territory on the Lebanese border. Channel Nine television reported Tuesday McLeay met Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah on July 10, 2001, during a trip assisted by Australia’s embassy in Lebanon. |