French President Nicolas Sarkozy said when he visited Damascus earlier this month that he does not see Hizballah as a terrorist organization, and in fact supports its fight against Israel, according to a Lebanese newspaper.

During his time in the Syrian capital, Sarkozy sat down with Lebanese daily newspaper Al-Akhbar, which quoted the French leader as saying that Paris "does not view Hizballah as a terror organization, rather it appreciates its opposition to occupation, as France has faced a similar experience in the past."

France was occupied by Nazi Germany in World War II, and French partisans spent much of the conflict carrying out resistance operations. If the newspaper is to be believed, Sarkozy was comparing that experience to Hizballah attacks on Israel over what the terror group calls the "occupation of Palestine."

Tellingly, Syrian President Bashar Assad announced immediately after Sarokzy left Damascus that he would never sever ties with Hizballah, as demanded by the United States.