The Independent: UK Bid to Blacklist Hizbullah Faces EU Opposition

Local Editor

The Independent British daily reported Wednesday that the UK's attempt to blacklist the so-called military wing of Hizbullah has run into opposition at the European Union.

At a closed meeting in Brussels, Britain put forward the bombing in the Black Sea resort of Burgas last July, in which five "Israelis", a Bulgarian driver and the bomber were killed, as a crucial part of its claim for why the EU should designate Hizbullah a "terrorist organization".

However, several EU countries raised questions over the evidence linking Hizbullah to the bombing, as well as concerns that blacklisting the organization could create instability in Lebanon, where Hizbullah is a major political and social force.

"An attack takes place and immediately all over the world, governments are saying it was Hizbullah," said Elena Pavlova, a Middle East analyst based in Sofia. "Yet, we have waited a year and still no one has given any proof."

Hizbullah denied involvement in the Burgas plot, and the attempt to blacklist the group has brought heated responses from Lebanon. "Any listing of the group [Hizbullah] as a terrorist organization will be considered as political provocation," Lebanon's acting foreign minister Adnan Mansour, who is seen as close to the Syrian government, said last week. "We know there are "Israeli" pressures practiced on more than one international side in order to accuse Hizbullah of terrorism."

Enough doubts remain to make several EU governments uncomfortable about blacklisting the group, and the support of all 27 members is needed for the motion to pass.
"The issue of political and security consequences" was raised, one EU diplomat said. More discussions will be held in the next two weeks, with a decision possibly taken by the end of the month.

Source: The Independent, Edited by website team