EU Mulls Putting Hizbullah on Terror Blacklist over Syria War
European Union foreign ministers will discuss end of May a British request to brand Hizbullah's military wing a terrorist organization despite reservations in Paris that are also shared by several other EU states, informed French sources said.
The sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published Sunday that Britain asked the EU presidency to designate the military wing a terrorist organization over the party's involvement in the war in Syria.
France, which has been the most influential opponent of the move, has lately seen a change in stance and could approve the measure given that Hizbullah members are fighting alongside Syrian regime troops against the rebels, the sources said.
They told al-Hayat that the French leadership is mulling only putting some Hizbullah leaders on the terror list and not the entire military wing of the party.
Germany, Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Greece are among the 27 EU states that are resisting such a move, the sources said, despite confirmed information by France that around 1,500 Hizbullah members are participating in the battles in Syria.
“The starting point of the discussions next week will be the Burgas bombing,” they said.
The U.S. has urged the EU to follow Washington's lead by designating Hizbullah as a terrorist group in a move that would lead to a crackdown on its fund-raising activities over the party's alleged involvement in the deadly attack on Israeli tourists in the Bulgarian resort of Burgas last year.
The Bulgarian government accused Hizbullah in February of being behind the bomb attack that killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian bus driver.
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