Lebanon to request EU not to put Hezbollah on terror list

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman decided Thursday to request the EU not to put Hezbollah on its list of terror organizations, according to a presidential statement. In the statement, Suleiman called Hezbollah "an essential component of the Lebanese society" and urged the EU to refrain from taking a decision "in a hasty manner and without objective and decisive evidence." Earlier, an EU meeting ended with no agreement on whether to add the powerful Shiite militant party to the list. Unanimity is required at EU to add the Lebanese group to a dozen of people and score of groups subjected to its asset freeze. Several member countries said it is difficult to separate Hezbollah's military and political wings, and they feared blacklisting the group would destabilize Lebanon as the Syrian crisis across its border deteriorates. Hezbollah has been on the U.S. terror black list since 1995. Britain and the Netherlands are the only EU nations that have placed Hezbollah on their own terror lists.