From MEMRI:
On October 20, 2005, the Lebanese press reported that a delegation from the Presbyterian Church USA, headed by Father Nihad Tu’meh and with Robert Worley as its spokesman, visited southern Lebanon at the invitation of Hizbullah, and met there with the terrorist organization’s commander in southern Lebanon Nabil Qawuq…
A year previously, on October 17, 2004, a Presbyterian Church USA delegation visiting Lebanon also met with Qawuq. MEMRI TV translated excerpts from a report on the meeting that was aired by Hizbullah’s Al-Manar TV. During the meeting, church elder Ronald Stone said, “We treasure the precious words of Hizbullah and your expression of goodwill towards the American people. Also, we praise your initiative for dialogue and mutual understanding. We cherish these statements that bring us closer to you. As an elder of our church, I’d like to say that according to my recent experience, relations and conversations with Islamic leaders are a lot easier than dealings and dialogue with Jewish leaders.”…
It should also be noted that shortly after the October 20, 2005 meeting, a delegation of families of U.S. victims of 9/11 went to Lebanon met with Hizbullah Deputy Leader Sheikh Naim Qassem. The following are excerpts from reports in the Lebanese press on the October 20, 2005 meeting.
Hizbullah commander in south Lebanon Nabil Qawuq told the delegation: “Lebanon, like the other countries in the region, suffers from the [political] American storms that have hit the region and are threatening its stability. Any foreign patronage is a bad thing, and the American patronage over Lebanon is the worst, because it is pushing the region towards sectarian segregation. All Lebanese fear the chaos created by the American policy.”…
Delegation spokesman Robert Worley said: “We do not wish to defend the U.S. administration. We all elected the Democratic Party against the Republican Party. Rest assured that we will return to the U.S. in order to continue our activity for peace, and we want to hear about the charity activities and the cultural and social activities organized by Hizbullah in south [Lebanon]. The Americans hear in the Western media that Hizbullah is a terrorist organization, and they do not hear any other opinion. They know nothing about the party’s concern for the people of the south. We have suffered much pressure on the part of Jewish organizations in the U.S. because [of our help in] divesting corporations working with Israel. We want Jerusalem to be a united city, just as we encouraged the Palestinians and the Jews to work for peace, and we demanded that our administration adheres to this position.”