Hezbollah not interested in dialogue with US until it changes its 'pro-Israel' Mideast policy

Bairut:  Hezbollah's deputy chief says his group doesn't want a dialogue with Washington until it changes its Mideast policy, which he said is totally biased toward Israel.

Shaikh Naim Kassem was responding to Ryan Crocker, ex-US ambassador in Iraq, who told Congress this month the United States should break with long-standing policy and start talking to the Iranian-backed group.

Crocker told a Senate hearing that the US stands to gain more than it would lose by negotiating with Hezbollah, which the US classifies as a terrorist organisation.

Kassem added in an interview on Monday that he does not expect a war with Israel, but the group is preparing for it "as if it is happening tomorrow." The two sides fought a bloody monthlong war in 2006.