Borzou Daragahi interviews hezbollah's 'number 2', Sheikh Naim Qassem, in the LATimes, here
"...To the alarm of Israel and the United States, Hezbollah has been enjoying increased legitimacy across the world. The British Foreign Ministry recently announced that it would shift course and begin talks with Hezbollah political leaders. And Latin American lawmakers and European peace activists attend Hezbollah conferences on "resistance" to Israel." ... In recent years, the Western perception of Hezbollah has changed," he said. "Even governments have started to looking for reasons to communicate and have relations with Hezbollah. . . . This indicates that the Islamic resistance has convinced the West it is a popular, authentic and important movement that cannot be ignored."....... U.S. policymakers and diplomats recognize that Hezbollah's network of charities, clinics and schools give it broad appeal among Lebanese Shiites and its militant stance has made it popular in the Arab world....Though many Western analysts say the coming parliamentary elections will decide whether Lebanon will tilt further toward the West or toward Iran and Syria, Qassem insisted that the election would augur no radical changes, including any attempt to dismantle Hezbollah's formidable arsenal of weapons, as called for by the United Nations...."
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