EU brands Hizballah "terrorist" group
By Matthew Levitt
The European Union Parliament passed a resolution today branding Hizballah as a terrorist group and affirming that the EU Council should take all necessary steps to curtail terrorist activities undertaken by Hizballah. While a step short of adding the group to the EU's list of banned terrorist groups, the parliamentary decision marks a turning point in European attitudes toward Hizballah. This shift has been in the works for the past few months; the decision follows France's December 2004 decision to ban Hizballah's satelite television station and a German court's ruling in January 2005 that described Hizballah as a terrorist group.
Contraty to press reports that the U.S. position on Hizballah has shifted toward that of France and other countries inclined to bring Hizballah into the Lebanese political mainstream, Secretary of State Rice reaffirmed today that "the American view of Hizballah has not changed."
Washington does not oppose Hizballah's particiaption in Lebanese politics, it takes issue with the violent guerilla and terrorist operations the groups carries out at the same time. Based on these violent activities, Hezbollah has been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the State Department and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity (SDGT) by the Treasury Departent. Several individual Hizballah members are also designated terrorists, as is the group's satellite television network, al-Manar.
Hezbollah is also banned -- in whole or in part -- in Canada, Australia and Great Britain.
For more on this subject, see PolicyWatch #958: Ban Hizballah in Europe.
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