WASHINGTON  - Bush administration officials, barred from having direct contact with Hezbollah members who may join a new Lebanese government, have opened talks with one of the group's closest allies, administration officials said.

A diplomatic source involved in the discussions described the role of Trad Hamadeh, a Lebanese government minister who is closely aligned with Hezbollah and has been meeting with senior U.S. officials, as a new "channel of communications" between the U.S. administration and Hezbollah.

Hamadeh met as recently as this month with senior State Department officials who handle Middle East diplomacy, according to a Bush administration official who asked not to be named because the meetings were not made public.

The official said the talks with Hamadeh dealt with reforms in Lebanon, not with Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist organisation by the United States.

Viewed by many in Lebanon as a resistance force, Hezbollah played a key role in forcing Israel to end its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon. Before it decided to join the government, it had regarded its main role as fighting the Israeli occupation.

The White House said there was no change in U.S. policy toward Hezbollah, though the administration has toned down its anti-Hezbollah rhetoric and even held out the prospect of legitimacy for the group if it laid down its arms.

Washington has since made clear to Beirut that it would boycott any members of Hezbollah who win posts in the new government, officials said. "We have a no-contact policy with Hezbollah," said a U.S. National Security Council spokesman.

But American officials and diplomats said contacts with government ministers like Hamadeh, who are close to Hezbollah but are not members, will be allowed on a case-by-case basis after checking their backgrounds.

Allen Keiswetter, who served Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush as deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs before joining the Middle East Institute, said using intermediaries is "exactly the kind of thing we have done in the past when we have been prohibited from dealing with an organisation."

Dilemma for Bush

Electoral gains by Hezbollah in Lebanon -- and similar groups in the Palestinian territories -- have created a dilemma for Bush, who touts the recent elections as a victory in his push to spread democracy in the region.

Washington's "no-contact" policy has reopened fissures with some European allies, who want the United States to show greater flexibility toward Hezbollah and Hamas members who win elected office.

To cope with the restrictions, Bush administration officials acknowledge they are walking a fine line -- refusing to meet with actual members while working with their aides and allies.

An administration official offered a hypothetical: "If the agriculture minister turns out to be a Hezbollah member, we won't have anything to do with him. But we can still meet a deputy who has no links. We've done that sort of thing when we haven't liked the connections of some Palestinian officials."

Talks with Hezbollah ally

During a visit to the United Nations in New York earlier this year, Hamadeh was invited to Washington for talks at the State Department with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Dibble and other policymakers, diplomatic sources said.

A follow-up meeting was held earlier this month in Beirut, and Hamadeh has also held talks with the U.S. ambassador in Lebanon.

Despite the contacts, a diplomat who is involved in the discussions said it was clear that Washington's position on Hezbollah was not about to change unless it agreed to disarm. "The goals are the same," the diplomat said.

Hezbollah swept the Shi'ite Muslim vote in last month's elections to win 14 parliament seats, and political sources say the group has been offered two ministries, which would mark the first time Hezbollah has joined a government.

An administration official said the United States has not warned or threatened Lebanese leaders against forming a government that included Hezbollah members. Washington does not want to be seen as interfering in the process after pressuring Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and to stop meddling in Beirut's affairs.

Asked how Washington would react to having Hezbollah join the new cabinet, Dibble said on July 8 that the Lebanese government was a Lebanese issue, but she added: "It is our hope that the government that is formed is one we can work with."

With Syrian troops out of the country, a Bush administration official said, Beirut would eventually be expected to take concrete steps to disarm Hezbollah, as called for in a U.N. resolution.

"Lebanon has gotten a pass in the past over its relations with terrorists because it was controlled by Syria. But at some point they are going to have to sit at the table like an adult," the official said.

If the new government refuses to act, said one source close to the administration, the White House could consider options to step up the pressure, including declaring Lebanon a non-co-operative state in the war on terrorism. (Reuters)