Germany backs call to put Hezbollah on EU terror list

Fears growing over group’s role in Syrian war

BRUSSELS: Germany will throw its weight behind a British drive to put the armed wing of Hezbollah on the European Union’s list of terrorist organisations, German diplomats said yesterday.

Britain said on Tuesday it wanted the EU to add Hezbollah’s military wing to its terror list because of evidence that the Iranian-backed militant group was behind a bus bombing in Bulgaria in July that killed five Israelis and their driver.

London also cited a four-year jail sentence handed down by a Cypriot court in March to a Hezbollah member accused of plotting to attack Israeli interests on the island.

If backed unanimously by the European Union, the listing would force European governments and companies to cease any financial dealings with the armed wing of the Lebanese movement.

The call for EU action on Hezbollah comes at a time of growing Western anxiety about the group’s involvement in the Syrian conflict, although British sources said this was not the reason behind its request.

Yesterday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague accused Hezbollah and Iran of propping up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Germany, one of the most powerful EU countries, had previously said it wanted to see stronger evidence that Hezbollah was involved in the bombing in Bulgaria.

“In the light of discussions we have had with our partners following the terrorist attack in Burgas, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle supports listing at least the military wing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation in the EU,” a German diplomatic source said.

“The German position is based on an increasingly clear picture of the facts and on the progress achieved by Cypriot authorities in analysing terrorist activities,” the source said. Hezbollah has dismissed Bulgaria’s accusations that it was involved in the attack and said Israel is waging a smear campaign against it.

Britain’s request will be discussed on June 4 by a special EU working group and London hopes for final agreement at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting on June 24, an EU diplomat said. The EU has resisted pressure from the United States and Israel to blacklist Hezbollah, arguing this could destabilise Lebanon’s fragile government and contribute to instability in the Middle East. In Europe, only the Netherlands lists Hezbollah as a terrorist group, while Britain blacklists its military wing. France has yet to take a public stance on Britain’s proposal. —Reuters

KIROV: Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny (front L) gestures while addressing Kirov regional governor Nikita Belykh (back R) as they attend the hearing of Navalny’s case in a court in the provincial northern city of Kirov yesterday. A Russian court in Kirov continued yesterday the trial of Navalny on fraud charges that could land President Vladimir Putin’s most outspoken foe behind bars for 10 years. Navalny acted as an unpaid advisor to Belykh, a former opposition politician, at the time of the alleged embezzlement in 2009. — AFP