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CAIRO — Arab League foreign ministers on Friday declared Lebanon’s Shiite movement Hezbollah a “terrorist” group, after the Gulf Kingdoms adopted the same stance recently at a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting.
"The Arab League foreign minister's committee has decided on Friday to consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization," said a statement from the Arab League carried by Egyptian state news agency Mena.
Nearly all members of the pan-Arab body supported the decision, but not Lebanon and Iraq, which expressed "reservations", the bloc said. Algeria supported the move, but with reservations, according to the bloc’s statement.
The Arab League meeting also condemned what it described as continued Iranian interference in the internal affairs of Bahrain, the statement said, adding that Hezbollah, along with the Iranian revolutionary guard, financed and trained terrorist groups in Bahrain.
Bahrain's Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Mubarak Sayar said in a news conference aired on Al-Arabiya channel there was a consensus on the decision but Lebanon and Iraq had reservations about it.
Saudi's ambassador to Egypt Ahmed Kattan appeared on Al-Arabiya saying Gulf states would be taking further measures against Hezbollah.
The Arab League meeting welcomed a French initiative calling for a global conference for peace and called for effective global measures to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
"Any resumption of future negotiations with regard to resolving the Arab-Israel conflict must be based on ... a specific timetable for ending the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine," its statement said. — Al Arabiya/Reuters
