US agents are poised to take covert action against the Lebanese group Hezbollah. The Central Intelligence Agency has been authorised to move against it as part of a secret plan by US President George W Bush to help the Lebanese Government halt the spread of Iranian influence. Senators and congressmen have been briefed on the classified "non-lethal presidential finding" that allows the CIA to provide financial and logistical support to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.The finding was signed by Bush before Christmas after discussions between his aides. Details of its existence, known only to a small circle of White House officials, intelligence officials and members of Congress, have been passed to The Daily Telegraph. It authorises the CIA and other agencies to fund anti-Hezbollah groups in Lebanon and pay for activists supporting the Siniora Government. The secrecy of the finding means that US involvement is officially deniable.
The Bush administration hopes that the Siniora Government, severely weakened after its war with Israel last year, will become a bulwark against the growing power of Shiites, championed by Iran and Syria. Bush has launched a fresh drive, supported by some regional governments as well as Israel, to stop Iranian hegemony in the Middle East emerging from the collapse of Iraq. He is increasingly alarmed at the threat from Iran, which has infiltrated the Iraqi government and is training Shiite insurgents and supplying them with roadside bombs.
A former US government official said: "Siniora is under siege and we are always looking for ways to help allies. Hezbollah is the A-team of terrorism and Iran and Syria have not let up in their support of the group."
The Israeli Government, which views Iran as its chief enemy, has been supportive. "There's a feeling in [Occupied] Jerusalem that the anti-Sunni tilt in the region has gone too far," said an intelligence source. "By removing Saddam, we've shifted things in favour of the Shiites and this is a counter-balancing exercise."