VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSM #0377 1430728
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 220728Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3453

UNCLAS STOCKHOLM 000377 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SECSTATE FOR INR/R/MR, EUR/PPD, EUR/NB, EUR/PA, EUR/FO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO PINS PHUM PREF EUN SW
SUBJECT: Media Reaction - Lebanon and Hezbollah 
 
On May 22, the independent liberal Stockholm morning daily "Dagens 
Nyheter" ran an editorial column by Per Jonsson headlined "Another 
Triumph for Hezbollah": 
 
"The peril, which possibly could have resulted in a full-blown civil 
war, now seems to have been temporarily removed. Wednesday's 
agreement on Lebanon's future mediated by the small oil sheikdom 
Qatar is remarkably concrete in details. And it also was supported 
by all relevant political factions in the country, which is even 
more remarkable.... 
 
"But in reality Hezbollah is the obvious victor. Most strikingly by 
its return into a coalition government, holding 11 out of 30 seats, 
after being subject to 18 months of boycott. 
 
"From a realpolitik point of view it is even more important that the 
well-equipped and well-trained Hezbollah militia now will be 
officially authorized to keep its weapons...which means that - after 
an 18 year ban against armed militia movements in Lebanon and two 
'binding' UN Security Council resolutions - Hezbollah's demands for 
upholding an independent war organization are now recognized.... 
 
"Thus, the protg of Syria and Iran, the worst enemy of Israel, and 
President George W. Bush's object of hatred, has won yet another 
grandiose political triumph. And that will certainly not make the 
Middle East a more secure place." 
WOOD