MEXICO CITY - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that the US opinion of Hezbollah as a "terrorist" organization has not changed despite the group's showing its major political influence in Lebanon this week with a huge demonstration in Beirut.

Speaking to reporters on a plane bound for Mexico, Rice said the US opinion has not changed even though 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.

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

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