بريطانيا تعتبر «حزب الله» منظمة إرهابية وتقر تجميد أمواله
الشرق الأوسط/17 كانون الثاني/2020
UK Expands Hezbollah Asset Freeze, Targets Entire Group
London- Asharq Al-Awsat/January 17/2020
Britain’s Treasury said it has designated the entire Hezbollah organization as a terrorist group under its Terrorism and Terrorist Financing rules, and as such its assets will be frozen. Previously it was only Hezbollah’s Military Wing which was subject to asset freezing under UK government rules.
Hezbollah, a heavily armed group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, was established in 1982 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and is an important part of a regional Tehran-led alliance known as “the axis of resistance”. In February 2019, the British government announced that it was no longer possible for them to distinguish between the political and the military wings of Hezbollah. “It is clear the distinction between Hezbollah’s military and political wings does not exist, and by proscribing Hezbollah in all its forms, the government is sending a clear signal that its destabilizing activities in the region are totally unacceptable and detrimental to the UK’s national security,” Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said back then.
UK adds entire Hezbollah group to terror blacklist
Najia Houssari/Arab News/January 17, 2020
The group was established in 1982 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and is an important part of a regional Tehran-led alliance known as “the axis of resistance.”Political wrangling continues in Lebanon over new govt with major political parties boycotting it
The US already designates Hezbollah as a terrorist organization
BEIRUT: The UK on Friday said it had added the whole Hezbollah movement to its terrorism blacklist and frozen all its assets. HM Treasury previously targeted the movement’s military wing, but the new sanctions classify all Hezbollah organizations and institutions under the Terrorist Asset-Freezing Act 2020 and freeze all its assets. Hezbollah had “publicly denied a distinction between its military and political wings,” the treasury said on its website. “The group in its entirety is assessed to be concerned in terrorism and was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK in March 2019. This listing includes the Military Wing, the Jihad Council and all units reporting to it, including the External Security Organisation.” The sanctions come amid continued wrangling in Lebanon over the formation of a new government comprising 18 ministers from one political camp: Hezbollah and its allies. Three main political parties — the Future Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party and the Lebanese Forces — are boycotting the new government.
Former Prime Minister Najib Mikati said: “They claim that they are about to form a government of technocrats and specialists, at a time when they are openly disputing over shares and ministries, as if we are living in a normal situation with no crisis in the country, nor protesters in the streets.”
The country has been roiled by demonstrations, political instability and an economic crisis. Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government resigned on Oct. 29, two weeks after the start of peaceful protests against tax increases and corruption.
Prime Minister-designate Hassan Diab was tasked last month to form a new government and there were hopes a new cabinet would be formed by the end of this week. Hariri has become more vocal about the obstacles blighting political negotiations, saying Thursday evening that the ones who fought his politics were also the ones who had brought the country to this “crisis situation.”Hezbollah had previously said it wanted him to head the new government, but the group’s Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem recently criticized the policies of previous governments that were characterized with “financial waste, corruption, and protection of law breakers.”
These factors had, he warned, put Lebanon on the track leading to a “great economic and social crisis.”
“There will always be those who are not content with anything, those who have legitimate suspicions, and those who consider that they were excluded and who will try to obstruct the path of the government so that it would not succeed,” he added. Former minister Pierre Raffoul, from the Free Patriotic Movement, accused Hariri of playing “an essential role” in obstructing the formation of the new government. Public affairs expert Dr. Walid Fakhreddin ruled out a new government being formed soon but said the delay had more to do with regional developments, including the assassination of Iran’s Qassem Soleimani. But protesters are keeping up the pressure on authorities and institutions, with banks the focus of widespread anger. Video footage showed a woman confronting protesters while they were smashing the glass of banks on Hamra Street. She can be heard asking where they are from, then telling them to go elsewhere. “Shame on you for terrorizing the inhabitants of Beirut,” she said.
UK adds entire Hezbollah movement to terror blacklist
AFP/January 17/2020
The change requires any individual or institution in Britain with accounts or financial services connected to Hezbollah to suspend them or face prosecution.
LONDON – Britain’s finance ministry on Friday said it had added Lebanon’s entire Hezbollah movement to its list of terrorist groups subject to asset freezing.The ministry previously only targeted the Shia movement’s military wing but has now listed the whole group after the government designated it a terrorist organisation last March. The change requires any individual or institution in Britain with accounts or financial services connected to Hezbollah to suspend them or face prosecution. The group had “publicly denied a distinction between its military and political wings,” the Treasury said in a notice posted on its website. “The group in its entirety is assessed to be concerned in terrorism and was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK in March 2019,” it added. “This listing includes the Military Wing, the Jihad Council and all units reporting to it, including the External Security Organisation.” Brian Hook, the US special representative for Iran, said the United States was “very pleased” with the decision, adding that it had long been seeking such a move from European allies. “We would like to congratulate the United Kingdom,” he told reporters in Washington. “There is no distinction between Hezbollah’s political arm and its military arm.” The Treasury in London said the change followed its annual review of the asset freezing register, and brought it into line with the 2019 decision by the interior minister to blacklist all of Hezbollah. “The UK remains committed to the stability of Lebanon and the region, and we continue to work closely with our Lebanese partners,” a spokesman said. Hezbollah is a Shia militant movement established in 1982 during the Lebanese civil war by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Its capture of two Israeli soldiers in 2006 sparked a 34-day war in which 1,200 people were killed. The group is seen as a key component of Shiite-majority Iran’s strategy for regional influence. Britain’s move comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, after the US killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in an air strike earlier this month. Tehran retaliated by firing a volley of missiles at US troops stationed in Iraqi military bases. Britain currently proscribes 75 international terrorist organisations under terrorism legislation passed in 2000.(AFP)
