U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice smiles as she arrives in Mexico's main square March 10. (Reuters)

    BEIJING, Mar. 11 -- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the US still considers Hezbollah a "terrorist" organization despite the group showing its major political influence in Lebanon this week with a huge demonstration in Beirut.

    Rice told reporters on a plane bound for Mexico that the American view of Hezbollah has not changed. She renewed Washington's call for Syria to remove its troops from Lebanon.

    The New York Times had reported earlier that the United States was grudgingly moving into line with efforts by France and the United Nations to get the Shiite group into the Lebanese political mainstream.

    Rice said the short-term goal is to make certain that the Lebanese people have a fair opportunity to have free elections and chart their future and that's why Washington is so focused on getting the Syrian forces out.

    With mounting pressure for Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, Hezbollah organised a demonstration with hundreds of thousands of people in Beirut on Tuesday in support of Syria and its leader, President Bashar al-Assad.

(Source: CRIENGLISH.com)