Google News (Link) - AFP (June 13, 2009)
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana held unprecedented talks with a Hezbollah official on Saturday, during a Beirut visit to reaffirm Europe's support for Lebanon after last week's polls.
He met in parliament with MP Hussein Hajj Hassan, whose Shiite movement is considered a terrorist organisation by the United States and which was defeated in the June 7 general election.
"Lists of terrorist groups are not the same in every country," Solana told a news conference when asked about the US blacklist of the Shiite militant group.
"Hezbollah is a member of the Lebanese society and it is represented in the Lebanese parliament and it will bear responsibilities," he said before leaving for Egypt at the end of a two-day visit.
For his part Hajj Hassan told AFP that the meeting "means more EU overture towards Hezbollah, and one at a higher level."
"This also means better communication for the European Union with the region and its parties," he said after the talks, adding that the move will "move the EU towards more realism."
Hajj Hassan is among 11 Hezbollah candidates who won seats in the 128-seat parliament.
Solana said Lebanon's rival political leaders "realise the responsibility they face" and he expected them to "find a way to push the country forward and form a cabinet" as soon as possible.
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