Arab League brands Lebanon’s Hezbollah ‘terror’ group

Cairo — The Arab League on Friday declared Iran ally Hezbollah a “terrorist” group, after Gulf states adopted the same stance over the Lebanese Shiite movement’s support for the regime in Syria’s war. Friday’s decision was endorsed by the majority of foreign ministers of the pan-Arab body, said Bahraini diplomat Wahid Mubarak Sayar. “The resolution of the League’s council (of foreign ministers) includes the designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist group,” he said reading from a statement at the Cairo headquarters of the League. He said the resolution denounced “Iranian interference” in the “internal affairs” of Arab countries, including Bahrain where it “supports terrorism.” In January, GCC member Bahrain said it had dismantled a “terror” cell allegedly linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah. On March 2, the GCC — which also includes Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — declared Hezbollah a “terrorist” group. It was the latest step taken by Gulf states against Hezbollah, which has lawmakers in Lebanon’s parliament. It came days after Saudi Arabia in February halted a $3 billion program for military supplies to Lebanon in protest against Hezbollah. Announcing the funding cut, a Saudi official said at the time that the Kingdom noticed “hostile Lebanese positions resulting from the stranglehold of Hezbollah on the state.” After that announcement, Saudi Arabia urged its nationals to leave Lebanon and avoid traveling there, with Qatar and Kuwait later issuing similar advisories. The United Arab Emirates banned its citizens from traveling to Lebanon. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards created Hezbollah in the 1980s. Funded by Iran, it is the only side not to have put down weapons after Lebanon’s civil war from 1975 to 1990. The United States, Canada and Australia have listed Hezbollah as a “terrorist” group. The European Union has also blacklisted its military wing.