"Shiite Hezbollah might normally have little appeal among the Sunnis of the Arab Mideast.. had it not been for Nasrallah's popularity.."

In AP, here

"Arab governments are starting to see the fingerprints of Lebanon's Hezbollah all over the Middle East, adding to their growing alarm over Iran's power and a widening Sunni-Shiite rift. The worry comes at a time when Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group and political party backed by Iran, already is expected to make strong political gains inside Lebanon in June 7 elections.

The double whammy by Hezbollah — of growing political influence at home, coupled with more outreach abroad — has put the squeeze on traditional but waning Arab powers like Egypt, alraedy rattled by President Barack Obama's outreach to their foe Iran.

"Hezbollah ..... (now) plays a role that is heavier, more important and influential than many Arab nations," said Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a Lebanese expert on the group.....

"We are not shy about providing the Palestinian people with the support they need," said the Hezbollah leader's point man on Arab affairs, Hassan Izzedine, in a recent interview. "But we don't intervene, even if we are asked, when it is a problem between a regime and its people, or a regime and the opposition."

Shiite Hezbollah might normally have little appeal among the Sunni-dominated nations of the Arab Mideast. But Nasrallah's popularity skyrocketed because of his guerrillas' tough stand against Israel in a summer 2006 war in Lebanon....

Nasrallah replied by mocking Egypt as a fading power. "Did (the arrest) restore to Egypt its regional and international prestige?" he asked in one recent address. "Certainly not."

Posted by G, Z, & or B at 11:35 AM