UK Treasury Expands Asset Freeze To Entire Hezbollah Movement

The UK Treasury issued a notice on Friday stating that it had updated its Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets to include the entire Lebanon-based Shiite organization Hezbollah, not just its military wing, thereby enabling the government to freeze all Hezbollah assets in the country

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2020) The UK Treasury issued a notice on Friday stating that it had updated its Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets to include the entire Lebanon-based Shiite organization Hezbollah, not just its military wing, thereby enabling the government to freeze all Hezbollah assets in the country.

"HM Treasury has designated the entire organisation of Hizballah under the Terrorist Asset-Freezing Act 2010," the Treasury wrote on Twitter.

In the notice, the Treasury said the asset freeze took immediate effect on Thursday, January 16.

London designated the entire group as a terrorist organization in March 2019, despite the movement denying a distinction between its military and political wings, the document read.

The European Union only considers Hezbollah's armed wing to be a terrorist organization.

Hezbollah, which is believed to be backed by Iran, was established in the 1980s and is a paramilitary and political organization originating in Lebanon's Shiite population. The group initially aimed to end Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah's military wing is also active in Syria, where it is fighting on behalf of the government.

The movement's political wing, meanwhile, is actively involved in the political process in Lebanon, with its representatives having secured a few seats in the national parliament.