Ya Libnan

EU still divided over branding Hezbollah a terrorist group

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hezbollah parade 9European Union nations are divided going into fresh talks this week on whether to add the military wing of Hezbollah to its list of terrorist groups, diplomatic sources said Monday.

EU ambassadors are set to discuss the issue on Thursday after counter-terrorist experts from the bloc’s 28 member states twice failed last month to reach a unanimous decision to blacklist the powerful Lebanese Shiite group.

Unanimity is required to add the Shiite militia to the dozen people and score of groups currently on the EU international terrorist list and subject to an asset freeze — including Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Colombia’s FARC guerrillas.

EU diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity said Austria, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Malta and Slovakia had not signed on so far to a push led by Britain, France and the Netherlands to blacklist the group.

A diplomat from a country supporting the move said a “consensus is clearly building” given that “the evidence that it committed terrorism on EU soil is strong”.

But others were not so sure. One EU source said the new Czech foreign minister had offered no indication so far of Prague changing its mind, and a diplomat said Austria was still mulling the issue.

Concerns over Hezbollah have mounted in Europe since an attack last year on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria which Sofia blamed on Hezbollah.

In March, a Cyprus court sentenced a Hezbollah member to four years behind bars for planning attacks there.

Hezbollah’s growing involvement in the Syrian conflict in recent months has further worried EU nations.

Should ambassadors fail again to reach agreement this week, the matter could go to foreign ministers who gather on Monday in Brussels.

EU counter-terror specialists first met on the issue on June 4 but failed to reach unanimity after several countries objected that this could destabilise politically fragile Lebanon, where Hezbollah is in government.

Hezbollah has been on a US terror blacklist since 1995.

Britain and the Netherlands are the only EU nations to have placed Hezbollah on their own lists of terrorist groups.

AFP

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6 responses to “EU still divided over branding Hezbollah a terrorist group”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Maybe if they get ‘The Brand’ on a new dark ale, there will never be debate again.

  2. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Maybe if they get ‘The Brand’ on a new dark ale, there will never be debate again.

  3. cook Avatar
    cook

    Joke of the century is that if they do anything , they will only label the “military wing” of Hezbollah as terrorists and not Hezbollah as a whole .

    I guess England went to war with the “military wing” of Germany . The U.S. was only against the “political wing” of the USSR. The Free Syrian Army is fighting the “military wing” of the Syrian government .

  4. cook2half Avatar
    cook2half

    Joke of the century is that if they do anything , they will only label the “military wing” of Hezbollah as terrorists and not Hezbollah as a whole .

    I guess England went to war with the “military wing” of Germany , nothing against Hitler . The U.S. was only against the “political wing” of the USSR. The Free Syrian Army is fighting the “military wing” of the Syrian government .

  5. wargame1 Avatar
    wargame1

    Why hezbushaitan need this graduation certificate now? didn’t they complete the course with a major in “car bombing” and wrote a thesis on how to hijack a government in a country long before? What will happen if they get the degree? They have lots of Jobs to do in Syria and around the world. Well a Graduation ceremony with a certificate can be given to them and no graduation robe and hat is necessary as they have it already.

  6. wargame1 Avatar
    wargame1

    Why hezbushaitan need this graduation certificate now? didnt they passed the test long before? What will happen if they get the degree? They have lots of Jobs to do in Syria and around the world. Well a Graduation ceremony with a certificate can be given to them and no graduation robe and hat is necessary as they have it already.

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