BEIRUT: The European Union officially added Hezbollah?s military wing to its list of terrorist organizations Friday but noted that financial assistance to Lebanon would be unaffected by the decision.
Hezbollah is now listed with names such as Hasan Izz-Al-Din, a member of the Lebanese group allegedly involved in the 1985 hijacking of a Trans World Airlines flight.
The EU published its decision in the organization's official journal.
Hezbollah's military wing, also known as ??Jihad Council? (and all units reporting to it, including the External Security Organization),? was designated as a terrorist group.
However, the EU made it clear that the designation was separate from its ties with the Lebanese state as reiterated, on several occasions, by Ambassador to Lebanon Angelina Eichhorst.
?The decision to designate the group does not affect legitimate financial transfers to Lebanon and the delivery of assistance, including humanitarian assistance, from the European Union and its Member States in Lebanon,? the EU said in its decision, which will be reviewed every six months.
Hezbollah regards the party as a single entity, with no separate political and military branches.
Eichhorst embarked this week on a series of talks with Lebanese officials including two members of Hezbollah following the unanimous decision by EU states to blacklist the Lebanese party?s military wing.
Speaking after his meeting with the EU ambassador, Hezbollah official Ammar Musawi said such a decision would have repercussions on the party?s ties with Europe.
Hezbollah?s Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said Wednesday that the move would make the EU complicit in any Israeli attack on Lebanon or the resistance given that the designation would provide ?legal cover? for such aggression.
During her meetings with officials, Eichhorst maintained that the EU?s move would not affect ties with Lebanon but it was a ?clear political message? to Hezbollah that the organization would not tolerate terrorist attacks on its soil.
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