Hizbullah Ready to Put Bush “Under Tight Siege”

U.S. President George Bush may not have that many fans in the Middle East, but there”s at least one group that”s busy preparing the welcome wagon for his tour of the region: Hizbullah, Time magazine has said.

Lebanon isn”t a scheduled stop on Bush”s trip to the region, but when rumors began circulating that he might make a surprise visit as a sign of support for Premier Fouad Saniora”s government, Hizbullah planners went into overdrive, Time said.

 

“Hizbullah leaves nothing to chance,” one of the group”s commanders told the magazine. “Bush is a coward he will never dare to visit Lebanon, but if he did it, we are ready to put him under tight siege.”

 

Hizbullah and other opposition groups have already reserved buses to move hundreds of thousands of demonstrators on short notice to follow the president wherever he goes, the commander said, if Bush should choose to appear.

 

Time also quoted the commander as saying that the Shiite group has organized security teams to prevent the crowds from getting out of hand or from being infiltrated by al-Qaida type groups that might try to assassinate the U.S. president.

 

“We will prevent any assault against Bush, because it will give an excuse for the Americans to invade Lebanon and it might give the spark of a civil war,” said the commander.