Arab Parliament Reportedly Labels Hizbullah as 'Terrorist Group'
The Arab League-affiliated Arab Parliament has decided to designate Hizbullah as a “terrorist group,” Arab media reports said on Sunday.
Arab Parliament Speaker Ahmed al-Jarwan condemned “Hizbullah's practices, which are aimed at undermining the security of many countries in the region,” Kuwait's official news agency KUNA said.
“We hope Hizbullah points its weapons at Israel,” KUNA quoted al-Jarwan as saying.
“After discussing some legal aspects related to security issues during the parliament's fourth session at the Arab League headquarters today, especially by members from Kuwait and Bahrain, the Arab Parliament has decided to consider Hizbullah a terrorist group,” al-Jarwan added.
“The Arab Parliament's foreign affairs committee has condemned Hizbullah's interferences and labeled it terrorist,” the Arab official went on to say.
According to al-Jarwan, the parliament also condemned “the direct Iranian interference and the indirect Hizbullah interference in the affairs of the Arab countries,” stressing its rejection of “any foreign meddling in the affairs of the Arab states that would jeopardize Arab national security.”
The Arab League itself declared Hizbullah a "terrorist" group in March after Gulf kingdoms did the same earlier in the month over alleged interference by the movement in the affairs of a number of Arab states.
On Friday, the world's top Muslim body, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, condemned Hizbullah over alleged “terrorist activities in Syria, Bahrain, Kuwait and Yemen and for supporting terrorist movements and groups undermining the security and stability of OIC Member States."
In February, Saudi Arabia halted a $3 billion program for military supplies to Lebanon in protest against Hizbullah. Announcing the funding cut, a Saudi official said at the time that the kingdom noticed "hostile Lebanese positions resulting from the stranglehold of Hizbullah on the state."
After that announcement, Saudi Arabia urged its nationals to leave Lebanon and avoid traveling there, with Qatar and Kuwait later issuing similar advisories. The United Arab Emirates banned its citizens from traveling to Lebanon.
The United States, Canada and Australia have listed Hizbullah as a "terrorist" group while the European Union has only blacklisted its military wing.
Y.R.
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