Hizbullah offers to reconcile Arab governments with their Islamic foes

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hizbullah guerrilla group, has offered to mediate between Arab governments and their Islamic adversaries in order to close ranks against Israel.

"The whole region is facing the threat of Israeli terrorism... and the Arab nation is invited to put forward a joint strategy," Nasrallah said in an interview published Thursday. "We call on Islamic movements in all Arab countries... to reconcile with their governments and to create an atmosphere of national unity," he said.

Nasrallah added that he was arranging meetings between leaders of Islamic movements and Arab governments for the purpose. He did not site names, but it was an allusion to Algeria and other places, where Islamic extremists are waging a violent campaign to enforce strict religion-based rule.

Nasrallah was on a visit to Iran, where he met with Iran's spiritual leader Ali Khamenei and president Mohammed Khatami. Hizbullah guerrillas belong to Islam's Shiite sect, which is dominant in Iran.

Nasrallah said his group is devising a formula that would enable Lebanese from other sects to join it in fighting Israeli occupation forces in southern Lebanon.

"We are ready to welcome in Hizbullah any person, regardless of their religious, sectarian or political affiliations," he said. Nasrallah added that Iran did not dictate policy to Hizbullah. "There is close cooperation but we do not take instructions from anybody. We are totally independent."

Hizbullah is fighting to oust some 1, 500 Israeli troops from a border strip in south Lebanon they have occupied since 1985.