Lebanon's Shiite community, which stretches from the Southern tip of Lebanon to Beirut, has resoundingly rejected international and internal calls for Hizbullah's disarmament. Calls for the disarmament have multiplied since Syria bowed to international demands for a full troop withdrawal from its smaller neighbor. Moreover, increasing international pressure, manifested by UN Security Council Resolution 1559, on the Lebanese government to disarm what is known as "the resistance," has split Lebanese public opinion.Last Friday, following meetings with both U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York, influential Christian leader Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir joined in the calls on the resistance to lay down its arms. Meanwhile, key opposition leader Chouf MP Walid Jumblatt and other opposition figures have pledged to protect the resistance. Despite the legitimacy widely attributed Hizbullah in Lebanon as a resistance group, the international community defines the organization as a militia that should be disarmed. The U.S. in particular, has always viewed Hizbullah as a terrorist organization that must be disarmed.
Earlier last week, the U.S. stand regarding Hizbullah seemed to have softened when Bush expressed openness to the idea of Hizbullah as a Lebanese political party, as long as it discarded its military wing and laid down its arms. But, Hizbullah has repeatedly ruled out laying down its weapons, placing the organization in direct defiance of Resolution 1559, adopted last year, which also calls on the Lebanese government to extend its control to all parts of the country - namely Hizbullah's stronghold along the southern borders with Israel.