Hizbullah Blacklisted in Several Countries
The European Union added the military wing of Hizbulah to its list of international terrorist groups on Monday.
The group was already on the blacklist in several countries, including EU member Britain:
- ISRAEL: In June 1989, the Israeli government decreed that Hizbullah is a terrorist organization.
A fierce opponent of Israel, Hizbullah, formed after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, seeks the "liberation" of all occupied Arab lands, including Jerusalem.
It headed the guerrilla war that was instrumental in forcing Israel's May 2000 troop pullout from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.
- THE UNITED STATES: Hizbullah has been on a U.S. terror blacklist since October 1997 after a series of anti-American attacks, including the bombing of the U.S. embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut in the 1980s.
"As of today it is a crime to provide funds, weapons or other types of tangible support to any of the designated organizations," then U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright said when announcing the list.
- CANADA: In December 2002, the Canadian government announced it is adding the whole of Hizbullah to its terrorism blacklist. Up to then only the armed wing had been concerned. Membership in or support of Hizbullah could lead to up to 10 years imprisonment.
- AUSTRALIA: Canberra listed Hizbullah's branch charged with "external security" as a terrorist group in 2003.
- BRITAIN: In July 2008, Britain moved to ban the entire military wing of Hizbullah. The interior ministry said it took the action because the branch supports militants in Iraq and Palestinian terror groups.
London had already in 2001 banned the External Security Organization, which it considers the fundamentalist group's "terrorist wing".
- THE NETHERLANDS: Prior to Monday's EU-wide decision, the Netherlands had been the only other member of the bloc to consider Hizbullah as a terrorist organization.
It had been pressing since 2004 for it to be placed on the EU's list of terrorist organizations in a bid to dry up its financing from Europe.
Source: Agence France Presse
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