French President Nicolas Sarkozy will invite Hezbollah to a conference in Paris. The conference later this month is aimed at quelling violence and political strife in Lebanon. It will include delegates from across the country’s political and religious divide, the Jerusalem Post reported.Sources in Jerusalem say the conference is part of an effort by Sarkozy to be an honest broker and help stabilize Lebanon. Inviting Hezbollah has quashed hopes that Sarkozy might put the group, regarded in Israel as a terrorist organization, on Europe’s list of terrorist groups. “The objective is to restore confidence between parties,” a French Foreign Ministry official said, adding that not talking to Hezbollah “would mean neglecting the Lebanese political situation, where Hezbollah is an important component.”
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