Hezbollah calls gulf council's terror listing 'hostile'

3/3/2016 6:50:13 PM

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) >Lebanese Shia militant movement Hezbollah has described the recent decision of the Gulf Cooperation Council to designate it as a terror group as a “reckless and hostile” move.

The parliamentarian bloc of Hezbollah in a statement Thursday held Saudi Arabia responsible for the GCC declaration made on Wednesday.

Earlier Thursday Yemeni Shia Houthi militant group also denounced the GCC decision.

On Wednesday the GCC -- comprising Saudi Arabia Kuwait the United Arab Emirates Qatar Bahrain and Oman -- formally designated Hezbollah a "terrorist" organization describing the group’s recent actions in Syria Yemen and Iraq as a "threat to Arab national security".

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies accuse Hezbollah -- Lebanon’s most powerful militant force -- of serving as an alleged proxy for Iran and of hijacking Lebanese policy-making.

Hezbollah for its part denounces Saudi military intervention in Yemen where Riyadh is leading a military campaign against the Houthis which in 2014 overran much of the country and which Saudi Arabia accuses of serving Iranian interests.

Last month Riyadh cancelled a promised $3-billion grant to the Lebanese army for the purchase of French arms and a $1-billion grant to the country’s internal security forces -- a move backed by the GCC.

Shortly afterwards the GCC -- in a veiled reference to Shia Iran -- voiced its "deep regret" that Lebanese policy had become "hostage to the interests of external regional powers".

Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf states have gone so far as to warn their citizens against traveling to Lebanon calling on their nationals living in the country to leave.

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