Britain Announces Plans to Ban Hezbollah's Military Wing
By VOA News
02 July 2008
The British government says it plans to place the entire military wing of the Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah movement on its list of banned terrorist organizations.
Britain's Home Office Wednesday accused the Shi'ite group of supporting terrorism in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.
It said that the new listing will make it a criminal offense to belong to, raise funds for and encourage support for Hezbollah's military wing.
The ban will not take affect until the British parliament approves it. Hezbollah's external security organization is already included on the terrorist list.
British officials say Hezbollah's political, social and humanitarian activities will remain unaffected.
Britain lists more than 40 groups as international terrorist organizations.
Last month, British lawmakers removed an Iranian opposition group, the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, from its terrorist blacklist.
The decision came after a British court ruled the group had renounced violence in 2001 and should not longer be considered a terrorist organization.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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