GULF COUNTRIES DESIGNATE HEZBOLLAH AS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION

                                     

The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council has stated that the GCC nations, voting as a block, have sanctioned the Lebanese Shi'ite group known as Hezbollah, or Party of God, designating it a terrorist organization. This will seriously complicate Hezbollah's terrorist financing activities, and force it to seek new financial centers to move the criminal proceeds that it uses to fund itself.

In January, foreign ministers from all the Arab countries, at a summit meeting, also labeled Hezbollah as a terrorist organization; Lebanon reportedly abstained from that vote.

Hezbollah's drug trafficking activities, in the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa, all remit their profits back to the organization's headquarters in Lebanon, and this new, regional designation will cause it to attempt to access alternative financial institutions. Be alert for any new flow of funds, where their final destination is Beirut.

The members of the GCC are:

(1) The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
(2) The United Arab Emirates
(3) Kuwait
(4) Qatar
(5) Bahrain
(6) Oman