Sharon Advised U.S. on Hezbollah

by BARRY SCHWEID
AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the Bush administration on his visit here in March that Iran has given Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon the capability to strike deep into Israel with missiles, an Israeli diplomat said Wednesday.

Sharon, in an interview with the Jerusalem Post, said the long-range rockets are capable of reaching the center of Israel.

The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Iran had provided Hezbollah with help on missiles for some time, and was now making the missiles farther-reaching.

But in Beirut, a Lebanese foreign ministry official denied Iran was building a rocket base in the country. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israel fabricates such reports to use them as an excuse for new attacks on Lebanon.

The State Department did not verify the Israeli claim. Philip Reeker, a department spokesman, said Wednesday ''we have been quite clear about our concern for Iranian behavior, including Iran's support for terrorism groups opposed to Middle East peace.''

The report surfaced as Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri met with Secretary of State Colin Powell after calling on President Bush on Wednesday.

Hezbollah receives its weapons from Iran via Syria, which has about 30,000 troops in Lebanon. Israel withdrew from a zone inside the border of the country. But Hezbollah, which was formed in 1982 with the aim of forcing Israel to pull out, remains active from sanctuaries in Lebanon.

Hariri said Israel still occupied territory that belonged to Lebanon. Israel claims the small enclave near its border is part of the Golan Heights, a strategic enclave Israel won from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.

The overall solution in the Middle East is to start working for a peaceful settlement, and Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt all have the will to do that, Hariri said after seeing Powell.

Powell, in turn, told reporters ''we have a number of things going'' and that, ''Ultimately the solution for the region is a peace that is fair for all.'' But, Powell said, violence must be curbed first.

A Hezbollah attack last week in which an Israeli soldier was killed triggered Israel's rocketing of Syrian-run radar installations in Lebanon. The exchange added to the strains of violence between Israel and the Palestinians.

On that front, Israel and the Palestinians have been holding security talks with the participation of a Central Intelligence Agency official, agency spokesman Mark Mansfield said.

Describing the CIA's role as that of a ''facilitator,'' Mansfield said Deputy Director John McLaughlin believes ''our role is not to negotiate; it is not to mediate; it is to provide a venue and invite people to come to a meeting hosted by someone who does not have an ax to grind.''

Last year, under the Clinton administration, CIA Director George Tenet played a high-profile role in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

But the new governments in Jerusalem and Washington agreed this year to reduce CIA involvement. The Palestinian Authority, on the other hand, wanted a larger role for the intelligence agency. At the White House meeting, Bush and Hariri ''agreed on the need for all parties in the region to avoid escalation of the violence and to work to end the violence and restore calm,'' White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters Tuesday.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001