EU Declares Hezbollah's Military Wing Terror Group

(AP) EU declares Hezbollah’s military wing terror group
By RAF CASERT
Associated Press
BRUSSELS
The European Union has declared the military wing of Lebanese party Hezbollah a terrorist group.

A French diplomat says that the Monday decision by the EU’s 28 foreign ministers was reached unanimously. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The Iranian-backed group plays a pivotal role in Lebanese politics, dominating the government since 2011, and has since sent its members to bolster Syria’s President Bashar Assad forces in their assault of rebel-held areas.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

The European Union was closing in on declaring the military wing of the Lebanese party Hezbollah a terrorist organization on Monday, months after the group was accused of involvement in last year’s attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that `’the great majority” of the 28 EU member states supported the plans and hoped for the necessary unanimity during Monday’s meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that evidence from last year’s attack in the Black Sea resort of Burgas in Bulgaria, which killed five Israeli tourists and one Bulgarian, should give enough impetus for the move. Westerwelle said that `’we have to answer this, and the answer is” blacklisting Hezbollah’s the military wing.

The attack on EU territory plus a Cyprus criminal court decision in March finding a Hezbollah member guilty of helping to plan attacks on Israelis on the Mediterranean island has galvanized EU diplomacy in moving toward action.

`’We should name names because time comes to tell the truth,” said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Antanas Linkevicius, who chaired Monday’s meeting. `’What was done by the military wing in the region and elsewhere I would say, there should be some reaction.”

Hezbollah has denied involvement in the attack on the bus in Bulgaria.

The blacklisting would mean imposing visa bans on individuals and asset freezes on organizations associated with the group. But the implementation would be complicated since officials would have to unravel the links between the different wings within Hezbollah’s organizational network and see who could be targeted for belonging to the military wing.

The Iranian-backed group plays a pivotal role in Lebanese politics, dominating the government since 2011, and has since sent its members to bolster Syria’s President Bashar Assad forces in their assault of rebel-held areas.

Even though evidence from Bulgaria and Cyprus will be key in the decision, several EU nations also have pointed to Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria as a reason for the move.

Hague said that blacklisting Hezbollah’s military wing would not “destabilize Lebanon or have serious adverse consequences.”

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Associated Press writer Barbara Surk contributed from Beirut.