European Union adds Hezbollah military wing to terror list

Posted

July 22, 2013 21:39:56

European Union governments have agreed to put the military wing of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on the EU terror list.

The move is a major reversal of policy driven by concerns over the group’s activities in Europe.

Until now, the EU had resisted pressure from Washington and Israel to blacklist Hezbollah, arguing such a move could fuel instability in Lebanon, where the group is part of the government, and add to tensions in the Middle East.

The decision triggers the freezing of any assets the group’s armed wing may hold in the 28-nation EU.

Britain and the Netherlands had pressed their EU peers since May in support of the vote, citing evidence the group was behind a bus bombing in Bulgaria last year.

“It is good that the EU has decided to call Hezbollah what it is, a terrorist organisation,” Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans said.

“We took this important step today, by dealing with the military wing of Hezbollah, freezing its assets, hindering its fundraising and thereby limiting its capacity to act.”

To do so, ministers agreed that EU political and economic links with Lebanon would be maintained.

A draft of the meeting conclusions noted that making use of “restrictive measures to combat terrorism does not prevent the continuation of dialogue with all political parties in Lebanon”.

“Legitimate financial transfers” and aid will also not be affected, it added.

Britain pressed hard for the decision, saying it was a “high priority.”

“It is very important that when there is a terror attack on European soil there needs to be a reaction,” British foreign secretary William Hague said.

Mr Hague said he did not believe that blacklisting Hezbollah “would destabilise Lebanon”.

“It is important to show that we are united in face of terrorism,” he said.

German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle agreed.

“We cannot allow the military wing of Hezbollah to carry out terrorist activities in EU … we think we have to answer such activities … and the answer is to blacklist them,” he said.

Mr Hague and other ministers deplored the deterioration in Syria where president Bashar al-Assad has made inroads against the rebels who are torn by bloody infighting and growing extremism, prompting concerns they will lose the war.

ABC/wires

Topics:
terrorism,
unrest-conflict-and-war,
world-politics,
government-and-politics,
european-union

Source Article from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-22/european-union-lists-hezbollah-military-wing-as-terror-group/4836482

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