Hezbollah says that the deployment of a US warship off the Lebanese coast is an indication of the US' failure in the Middle East.

"Sending a warship and threats of resorting to military force is a proof that the American administration has failed in imposing its policies and hegemony on our region," Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said on Friday.

Late Thursday, White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe confirmed that the US has sent the USS Cole warship to the area in what he described as "a show of support for regional stability".

The USS Cole, a destroyer armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, was dispatched to the area from Malta amid the political crisis in Lebanon.

Lebanon has been locked in political turmoil which prevented rival parties from electing a new president to succeed Emile Lahoud whose term ended on November 23.

SB/RE