Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew urged Lebanese resistance group Hizbullah to eschew violence amid growing hopes for a Middle East peace in the wake of this week's Sharm el-Sheik summit. His plea comes hard on the heels of international calls for the armed militants to abide by the cease-fire agreed between PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon. Following a meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud, Pettigrew said: "Canada fully supports Security Council Resolution 1559 and Hizbullah should "recognize that violence is not a way to make the negotiations progress." He added: "The well-being of the Palestinian people is dependent on the efforts that have been undertaken by Mahmoud Abbas and Canada wishes to be a larger player in bringing about peace to the Middle East."
Pettigrew, who is on a five-leg tour of the Middle East, arrived in Beirut late Thursday night from Palestine. He is expected to leave Saturday for Damascus, where he hopes to conclude his Middle East tour with a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Israel has said Hizbullah is the biggest threat to the current Middle East peace negotiations after it was accused of supporting militant groups in Palestine. But the group's deputy secretary general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, denied Hizbullah was involved in any activity outside Lebanese territories. Speaking during a radio interview, Qassem said: "The Palestinians inside the occupied land are the ones to decide if they would accept the truce or not, and Hizbullah has nothing to do with this." He added that although Hizbullah supports the Palestinian fight to regain their occupied land, "we have nothing to do with their activities."