Lebanese official tells EU not to declare Hezbollah terrorist organization

Germany now leads European efforts to place Hezbollah’s military wing on EU terror blacklist following new evidence on the 2012 suicide bombing that killed 5 Israelis in Bulgaria.

The European Union is reassessing whether to declare Hezbollah’s military wing a terrorist organization, a move it has long avoided despite U.S. pressure.

Reenactment of the Burgas bus bombing.


Reenactment of the Burgas bus bombing.- Photo by AP

The move was bolstered by Germany’s policy change after long resisting calls to list Hezbollah for fear it could destabilize Lebanon.

Germany said it was pushed toward declaring Hezbollah a terror group by the 2012 attack in the Black Sea resort of Burgas in Bulgaria.

On Wednesday, Bulgaria’s interior minister said new evidence has bolstered its case implicating Hezbollah in the bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists, the bus driver and alleged attacker.

 

View original HAARETZ publication at: http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.536655