Mideast - AFP
Netherlands calls for Hezbollah to be placed on EU terrorism list
Mon Nov 1, 2:55 PM ET
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Mideast - AFP
THE HAGUE (AFP) - Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot called for the Lebanese Hezbollah organization to be placed on the European Union (news - web sites)'s list of terrorist organizations in a bid to dry up its financing from Europe.
However Bot acknowledged that there is no unanimity on this subject in the European Union. Some governments make a distinction between Hezbollah as a political party with a dozen members in the Lebanese parliament and a broad program of social works, and its militant military wing responsible for numerous deadly attacks.
Hezbollah has confined its armed activities to southern Lebanon and Israel for several years.
The Netherlands also has drawn a distinction between Hezbollah's civilian and armed wings, but Bot told parliament they were both dedicated to the same ends.
Hezbollah, "the Party of God," formed by Iranian Revolutionary Guards 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. It has staged many deadly guerrilla attacks, including suicide bombings.
The group is known to have thousands of active militants and a tightly-knit security apparatus. It is also a major provider of social, educational and health services to thousands of Shiites in impoverished areas, mainly in Beirut's southern suburbs and in the south.
The Netherlands currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, which makes Bot the president of the European Council, the Brussels-based headquarters of the 25-member governments.
The latest EU terrorism list, which was approved on April 2, includes 26 individuals and 25 organizations, including Hamas, another violent anti-Israeli group that carries out both social work and armed attacks.
The blacklist was established late in 2001 following the September 11 attacks.
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13-11-2004, 16:04
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