Annan Meets With Hezbollah Leader

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan met with the leader of Hezbollah, treating the group Washington views as a sponsor of terrorism as a partner for peace on the Israeli-Lebanese border. The meeting, the first between Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and a senior international official, highlighted the fast-changing politics of the region. Hezbollah spent nearly two decades trying to drive Israeli troops from southern Lebanon, and it now controls the territory Israel abandoned last month. Annan said he and Nasrallah discussed cooperation between the Lebanese government and “non-state parties,” though he did not refer to the militant Islamic group by name.