MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
EU puts Hezbollah in terrorism blacklist; Lebanon fears impact in local politics
Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour: “this will hinder Lebanese political life in the future” The European Union agreed on Monday to put the armed wing of Hezbollah on its terrorism blacklist, a move driven by concerns over the Lebanese militant group's roles in a bus bombing in Bulgaria and the Syrian war.
Britain and the Netherlands have long pressed their EU peers to impose sanctions on the Shi'ite Muslim group, citing evidence it was behind an attack in the coastal Bulgarian city of Burgas a year ago, which killed five Israelis and their driver.
Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said the decision was “hasty” and could lead to further sanctions against the movement that would complicate Lebanese politics.
“This will hinder Lebanese political life in the future, especially considering our sensitivities in Lebanon,” he told reporters. “We need to tighten bonds among Lebanese parties, rather than create additional problems.”
The blacklisting opens the way for EU governments to freeze any assets Hezbollah's military wing may have in Europe.
“It is good that the EU has decided to call Hezbollah what it is: a terrorist organisation,” Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers who decided on the blacklisting.
“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.”
By limiting the listing to the armed wing, the EU was trying to avoid damaging its relations with Lebanon's government.
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Read all commentsAnd all the other “palestinian” criminal, terror groups as well. There is NO country called Palestine. There NEVER has been. It is, at best, a geographical region. There are NO “palestinians”. Just arabic, islamist, terrorists that need to be wiped out. The arab “squatters” of 1948 needed too move voluntarily to Transjordan (now Jordan) or be “dispossessed” forcibly. No sympathy for arab thieves. And a look at cultures shows that arabs have ALWAYS been THIEVES!
Jul 23rd, 2013 - 03:21 pm 0@1 Conqueror:
Jul 23rd, 2013 - 05:21 pm 0Actually the people who now call themselves Palestinians aren't Arabs - in many cases they share the ancestors as Jews. Their form of Arabic, and Hebrew, are very similar - they are effectively cousins. Interestingly ( at least to me ) the Egyptian Copts aren't Arabs either - they are the original occupants of Egypt, the Arabs arrived about 2,000 yrs ago and are now the majority.
I worked with a couple of Algerian refugees in the 90's. They were nice guys although not much fun around Ramadan. They didn't steal anything - unless they were REALLY good at it and I didn't notice.
As to Hezbollah I echo what Frans Timmermans says, only I would've gone further - the WHOLE of Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation.
I agree, the WHOLE of Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation BUT the Palestinians voted for them and are now hostages to fortune since the political arm of Hezbollah altered the law thus making it very difficult to get rid of them.
Jul 23rd, 2013 - 06:06 pm 0And I also agree that the Arabs are the scum of the Middle East and without dealing effectively with them it is pointless to do anything else.
So the Palestinians have screwed themselves. Oh dear, never mind.
Perhaps when Iran attacks Israel it will all be sorted out in the ‘flash’ of an eye, until the next time.
I do hope the Wahabbi movement of radical raghead Muslims get their just deserts as well, not before time. Pity there is no hell for them to burn in, but at least they will be dead.
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