Treasury freezes Hezbollah’s UK assets
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The Treasury has designated the entire organisation of Hezbollah as a terrorist outfit, freezing all its UK assets.
The Lebanese party’s military wing was previously designated as a terrorist organisation by the Treasury, however its wider operations were not.
The call to place Hezbollah on the terror black list follows home secretary Priti Patel’s decision to proscribe the organisation last year.
A note from the Treaury read: “Hezbollah itself has publicly denied a distinction between its military and political wings.
“The group in its entirety is assessed to be concerned in terrorism and was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK in March 2019.
“This listing includes the Military Wing, the Jihad Council and all units reporting to it, including the External Security Organisation.”
The decision was welcomed by the London-based Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM) think tank.
BICOM chief executive James Sorene said: “HM Treasury’s move to freeze Hezbollah’s assets is a vital step to cut it off from UK financial services and limit the group’s global terrorist activities and involvement in organised crime.
“Alongside the Home Office decision to designate all of Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation last year, the UK Government should be applauded for taking tough action to confront Hezbollah in its entirety.”