06/26/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09968

TERRORISTS MEET IN LEBANON

Leaders of some of the world’s most notorious terrorist groups met June 18^th in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. The occasion was a conference of regional parliamentarians who claim to support the Palestinian cause. One of those taking part was Nabih Berri, speaker of the Lebanese parliament. He voiced support for the terrorists’ campaign of suicide bombing attacks against Israelis.

The meeting began only hours after a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus in Jerusalem. Nineteen Israelis were killed in the terrorist attack, and more than fifty were wounded. In less than two years, Palestinian terrorists have carried out more than sixty suicide attacks against Israelis.

The terrorist group Hamas claimed responsibility for the June 18^th bombing. Hamas was represented at the Beirut meeting by senior leader Moussa Abu Marzouk (mar-ZOOK). As President George W. Bush has said, "Hamas is an extremist group that calls for the total destruction of Israel. It is one of the deadliest terrorist organizations in the world today."

Another terrorist leader at the meeting was Hassan Nasrallah [HAH-sahn nahs-RAH-lah] of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah. He has also called for the destruction of Israel. And at a rally in Lebanon in March, amid chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," Nasrallah criticized Arab leaders who have made proposals for a peaceful settlement between Palestinians and Israelis. Hezbollah is closely allied with Iran, the world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism.

Another notorious terrorist at the Beirut meeting was Ahmed Jibril, head of the Syria-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. This group has been involved in terrorism for decades, both in the Middle East and in Europe. The Jibril group maintains bases in Lebanon and receives support from both Syria and Iran.

As President Bush said at the United Nations last November, two months after the al-Qaida attacks on America, "We must unite in opposing all terrorists, not just some of them. In this world there are good causes and bad causes, and we may disagree on where the line is drawn. Yet, there is no such thing as a good terrorist. No national aspiration, no remembered wrong," said President Bush, "can ever justify the deliberate murder of the innocent. Any government that rejects this principle, trying to pick and choose its terrorist friends, will know the consequences."