Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Naharnet News Desk

Beirut, 14 Jun 08 - European MPs representing several blocs of the continent’s nations have prepared a memorandum urging the European Union to declare Hizbullah a “terrorist organization.”

The memo states that Hizbullah “poses a direct threat to the EU security.”

It accuses Hizbullah of backing groups like Hamas, classified by the EU as a terrorist faction, broadcasting through its al-Manar television mouthpiece messages of “hatred and violence” and glorifying suicide attackers.

Elmar Brok, a German member of the European Parliament and chairman of the committee on foreign affairs, declared support for the memo and said he expects at least half of the European Parliament’s legislators to sign it.

However, Brok emphasized that the last say in this regard lies in the hands of the European Council that tackles such issues behind closed doors.

Berlin, Brok added, is following up the situation in Lebanon and stressed that the issue of classifying Hizbullah as a terrorist organization should be discussed in light of Lebanon developments.

Brok, who was elected on the Christian Democratic Union’s ticket, said “important steps” have been achieved in Lebanon in light of the Doha Accord that had been signed by the various factions, including Hizbullah.

Such important steps include the election of Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman president, he noted.

Intensive efforts are underway to form a national unity cabinet, Brok said, adding that “these steps are being exerted in the proper direction that enables Lebanon to overcome the threat of split.”

“We’ll do whatever leads to a positive development in Lebanon and serves the interest of the Lebanese people,” he pledged.

However, a German foreign ministry spokesman told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat Berlin has reservations over efforts by European Parliament members to list Hizbullah as a terrorist organization.

Such decisions are usually tackled by the European Council and not by the European Parliament, the spokesman noted.

Such an issue should be evaluated in light of the “positive development in Lebanon,” the spokesman stressed.

Berlin’s stand reflects the German government’s interest in maintaining its rather unique relations with Hizbullah as a successful mediator for more than a decade in prisoner swaps between the Iranian-backed party and Israel.