ISRAEL'S PERES THANKS EU FOR BLACKLISTING HEZBOLLAH

Tel Aviv, 15 Ramadhan 1434/23 Juli 2013 (MINA) – Israeli President Shimon Peres has thanked European leaders in a letter for listing Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah’s movement as a terrorist organisation.

The decision was a “significant and necessary step towards putting an end to the spread of terrorism across the globe,” Peres wrote, according to a statement from his office, the Times Live quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Tuesday.

“Your decision sends a clear message to terrorist organisations and the countries which harbour them that their murderous actions will not be tolerated,” Perez added.

EU foreign ministers have agreed in Brussels, Monday, to list the military wing of Lebanese militant group Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah’s as a terrorist organisation. The move required the agreement of all 28 of the EU’s member states.

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It will now become illegal for Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah’s sympathisers in Europe to send the group money, and enable the freezing of the group’s assets there.

Some member states had been wary of the measure, saying it could further destabilise the situation in Lebanon.

The BBC’s Chris Morris in Brussels says some states had also argued it would be difficult to distinguish fully between the group’s military and political wings.

The Aljazeera reports, Britain has sought to persuade its EU peers since May to put the Shia Muslim group’s armed wing on the bloc’s terrorism list, citing evidence that it was behind a deadly bus bombing in Bulgaria last year.

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Previous, the EU has resisted pressure from Washington and Israel to blacklist Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah’s, arguing that it could fuel instability in Lebanon, where the group is part of the government, and add to tensions in the Middle East.

But, Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah’s denies any involvement in last July’s attack in the Bulgarian coastal resort of Bourgas that killed five Israelis and their driver. (T/P09/E1).

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).