Hizballah's Conundrum

A note on the Lebanon mess, from Nick Blanford in Beirut:

"Hizballah's No. 2 Sheikh Naim Qassem was in Saudi Arabia last month for a ground-breaking visit with King Abdullah. The visit appears to be an attempt by both Iran, which backs Hizballah, and the Saudis to ease Sunni-Shiite tensions and allay Riyadh's deep suspicions of Tehran's intentions in the Mideast. It also had the aim of finding a compromise to resolve Lebanon's six-week political crisis pitting the Hizballah-led opposition against the Saudi- and American-backed Siniora government.

"Still, a resolution to the crisis won't necessarily be of much help to Syria given the looming conclusion of the UN investigation into Rafic Hariri's murder and the formation of an international tribunal to try the accused. Hizballah doesn't take direct orders from Damascus, contrary to what many people think. But it is sensitive to the needs of the Syrian regime, as is Iran. It will be interesting to see how Hizballah maneuvers in the coming months to satisfy its often conflicting interests and obligations to Iran, Syria and its Shiite constituents in Lebanon."

By Scott MacLeod/Cairo