US urges EU take a tougher stance on Lebanese Hezbollah
Lebanese Hezbollah (also ‘Hizballah’) and the countering of its ‘global terrorist, financial and procurement networks’ was the focus of a meeting convened by the US State Department and Justice Department at The Hague at which the EU was urged to take a tougher stance against the US-sanctioned group. Washington designated the Iran-backed Lebanese group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997 and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2001. It also wants allies, like the European Union, to ban Hezbollah in its entirety. However, the bloc has opted for ‘targeted restrictive measures’ to date.
At the 11th meeting of the Law Enforcement Coordination Group (‘LECG’) on 22-23 June, ‘Participants discussed how Hizballah’s global terrorist plotting, financial schemes, and weapons procurement have evolved since the last global LECG meeting in 2022,’ a State Department media note said.
‘LECG members also discussed how Hizballah operates across various regions and what types of law enforcement or financial tools are most effective in countering Hizballah operations within their territory,’ it added.
More than 35 governments across the Middle East, South America, Central America, Europe, Africa, Indo-Pacific, and North America participated in the session, along with INTERPOL, EUROPOL, and the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law, the US Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
