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European Union Adds Hezbollah to Terror List European Union Adds Hezbollah to Terror List
(about 4 hours later)
BRUSSELS — European Union foreign ministers Monday added the military wing of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant group and political party, to a list of terrorist organizations. BRUSSELS — European Union foreign ministers on Monday added the military wing of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant group, to a list of terrorist organizations. But questions immediately arose about the effectiveness of the accompanying sanctions, which are expected to include asset freezes.
European diplomats said government experts would need a day or more to agree on how to phrase language to punish only the armed wing of Hezbollah, which is also Lebanon’s most powerful political party and runs schools, clinics and hospitals.
“It is good that the E.U. has decided to call Hezbollah what it is: a terrorist organization,” Frans Timmermans, the foreign minister of the Netherlands, said in a statement shortly after the decision.“It is good that the E.U. has decided to call Hezbollah what it is: a terrorist organization,” Frans Timmermans, the foreign minister of the Netherlands, said in a statement shortly after the decision.
The move would have the effect of “limiting its capacity to act,” said Mr. Timmermans, referring to Hezbollah. The move would have the effect of “limiting its capacity to act,” Mr. Timmermans said.
The decision to put members of Hezbollah’s military wing on the European Union terror list required the unanimous consent of the bloc’s 28 members. Sanctions are expected to include travel bans and asset freezes. But asked about the effectiveness of the measures, one European Union official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of a formal declaration, said the move was first and foremost “a political signal” to Hezbollah.
Britain led the effort after a terrorist attack in Bulgaria a year ago that killed five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian driver and the conviction in March of a Hezbollah operative in Cyprus for plotting a similar attack. Britain said the attack and planning of the second attack were carried out on European Union soil, leaving members with no other choice than to blacklist the military wing. The move could pave the way for travel bans on individuals, which could help stop terrorist attacks on European Union territory. But imposing such bans would require the union to take additional steps that would be far from straightforward.
Israel, the Netherlands and the United States, which already list Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, pressed hard for the bloc’s member states to follow suit. Also complicating the application of the decision is the intense secrecy surrounding Hezbollah’s military activities. While the group’s political leaders are well known, its fighters hide their affiliation, sometimes even from their own families. Even the identities of the group’s highest ranking military commanders usually become publicly known only after their death.
The decision, long sought by Israel, follows another move last week by the European Union that upset the government of Israel: imposing financing restrictions to push Israel to resolve its conflict with the Palestinians. Hezbollah did not offer any immediate public reaction. But Al Manar, its television network, reported the decision as a sign of European submission to pressure from the United States and Israel, which have long listed the group as a terrorist organization and have urged the European bloc’s members to follow suit.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel welcomed the move, but implied criticism that it was addressed only to Hezbollah’s militant wing.
“As far as the State of Israel is concerned, Hezbollah is one organization, the arms of which are indistinguishable,” he said in a statement. “I hope that the implementation of the decision will lead to tangible steps against the organization.”
In letters to European leaders, President Shimon Peres of Israel said, “Your decision sends a clear message to terror organizations and the countries which harbor them that their murderous actions will not be tolerated.”
Britain began to campaign actively for the designation after a terrorist attack in Bulgaria a year ago, which killed five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian driver, and the conviction in March of a Hezbollah operative in Cyprus for plotting a similar attack.
The decision, which required the approval of all 28 members of the European Union, “shows that no organization can carry out terrorist acts on European soil, such as the appalling attack in Bulgaria one year ago, without facing the consequences,” said William Hague, the British foreign secretary. “European nations have rightly come together in response.”
Like all such designations by the European Union, the measure will be reviewed after about six months. But repealing it would be extremely difficult, because it would require another show of unanimity from the ministers.
Support for the sanctions against Hezbollah grew in recent months because of the group’s strong support for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria in his military campaign against a two-year uprising.Support for the sanctions against Hezbollah grew in recent months because of the group’s strong support for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria in his military campaign against a two-year uprising.
To make the decision possible, Ireland and Austria were among the countries that dropped their opposition. Both countries have peacekeepers in the Middle East patrolling cease-fire zones like those separating Israel from Lebanon and Syria.To make the decision possible, Ireland and Austria were among the countries that dropped their opposition. Both countries have peacekeepers in the Middle East patrolling cease-fire zones like those separating Israel from Lebanon and Syria.
Those countries were wary of destabilizing Lebanon by cracking down on militant elements like Hezbollah, and of eroding their own influence on events there.Those countries were wary of destabilizing Lebanon by cracking down on militant elements like Hezbollah, and of eroding their own influence on events there.
Italy also was wary of the decision because it has significant numbers of peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, and the European diplomats said the country went along with the decision to maintain unity in the bloc’s foreign policy.
Following the decision, Mr. Hague, the British foreign secretary, sought to reassure other member states that support for Lebanon, including significant aid payments, would remain intact.
“Designation will do nothing to affect the E.U.'s and the U.K.'s strong relationship with and support for Lebanon,” Mr. Hague said. “The U.K. remains deeply committed to Lebanon’s stability.”
Kamel Wazne, a Lebanese analyst and director of the Beirut-based Center for American Strategic Studies, said that by designating only the military wing of Hezbollah, the Europeans appeared to want to maintain dialogue with others in the group, including its Parliament and cabinet members. He doubted that such a strategy would work.
“This probably closed some of that dialogue because in my estimate Hezbollah will say, ‘We don’t have a military wing or a political wing; we have one party,'   " he said. “This will complicate the situation.”

James Kanter reported from Brussels, and Jodi Rudoren from Jerusalem. Ben Hubbard contributed reporting from Beirut, Lebanon.