GCC Rules out Possibility that Gulf Will Blacklist Hizbullah as Terrorist Group
The Gulf Cooperation Council stated on Tuesday that the process of blacklisting Hizbullah as a terrorist organization would take time.
“The process requires time and a procedures linked to a united Gulf stance on the party,” explained Bahraini Foreign Minister Khaled bin Mohammed al-Khalifa at the beginning of a GCC council meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
He added however that Bahrain had already blacklisted the group “due to its meddling in the country's internal affairs.”
Ties between Hizbullah and Bahrain had witnessed tensions due to the party's strong support of a popular uprising in the country that began in 2011.
The GCC monarchies decided on June 10 to impose sanctions on Hizbullah, targeting residency permits and its financial and business activities in reprisal for the group's armed intervention in Syria.
The council comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Qatar expelled 18 Lebanese citizens from the gas-rich Gulf state on June 20, a government source in Beirut told Agence France Presse.
An estimated 360,000 Lebanese work in the Gulf, according to the daily An-Nahar, remitting some $4 billion (three billion euros) annually.
A staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Hizbullah has backed him since protests erupted in March 2011, openly declaring its military involvement in the conflict.
Source: Naharnet
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