EU Counterterrorism Coordinator: Hezbollah is not on terror list

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EU: Hezbollah is not on EU terror list

The European Union's counterterrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerckhove says Lebanon's Hezbollah is not on the list of terror groups. Gilles de Kerckhove said the EU would not put Hezbollah on the list of terror groups because several member states, including France, oppose such a move.

The EU official made the comment in a seminar on 'Terrorism and Europe' organized at the European Parliament in Brussels. Some of the members of the European Union's Parliament launched a campaign this week to have Hezbollah listed as a terrorist organization by the 27-member bloc. A coalition of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) circulated a "written declaration" on Tuesday seeking to have Hezbollah added to the EU terror list.

De Kerckhove asserted that Hezbollah is represented in the government of Lebanon and it has representatives in Parliament and holds one seat in the Cabinet. "It plays a role on the Lebanese political scene and several countries think that this could bring them closer to the democratic process," he added.

Currently, among the 27 EU member states, only the UK and Netherlands are in favor of adding Hezbollah to the EU list of terror which would freeze the group's Europe-held financial assets. De Kerckhove said that he believes the main threat "is coming from Al-Qaeda" and not from Hezbollah. The group has representatives in Parliament and holds one seat in the Cabinet. It also participates in municipal government and undertakes many social development projects.

The group was responsible for much of the reconstruction work that took place in the South, Beirut's southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley after the 33-day July war. Hezbollah's Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday at a gathering in Beirut, the resistance movement's power is at Lebanon's service so that it can withstand aggressions by enemies.

"Resistance feels a sense of duty towards the Lebanon strength; this sheer sense of duty has enabled the movement to achieve great victories against those who intend to harm the Lebanon strength"