Annan meets with Hezbollah Cabinet minister

August 29, 2006
The Jamaica Observer
Original Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20060828T200000-0500_112165_OBS_ANNAN_MEETS_WITH_HEZBOLLAH_CABINET_MINISTER.asp
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan met with a Hezbollah Cabinet minister yesterday, in the first direct contact with the guerrilla group during his Lebanon visit, a Lebanese government official said.
The UN chief met with Mohammed Fneish, Lebanon's minister of hydraulic resources, at the main government building. They were joined by Geir Pedersen, Annan's special representative for Lebanon, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was still going on.
Details of the discussions were not immediately available, but they were expected to address implementation of the ceasefire resolution and Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers during a cross-border raid on July 12 that started the war.
The UN resolution calls for unconditional release of the soldiers. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said in a TV interview aired Sunday that Italy and the United Nations had made contacts to help mediate a prisoner swap with Israel, but did not specify whether they had contacted Hezbollah directly.
Fneish, a senior member of Hezbollah's political wing, is one of two Hezbollah ministers in Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's Cabinet.
Annan is in Lebanon to consolidate a UN-brokered ceasefire.