(MENAFN) On a visit that comes after Washington announced a probe into Hezbollah "narcoterrorism'', a senior US Treasury official met Monday in Lebanon with President Michel Aoun on a visit.
The US Justice Department said on January 11 it was creating a task force aims to target the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement, a powerful rival of Israel, that the United States considers a terrorist group.
Hezbollah, which is represented in the government and parliament, has been a key player in the war that has ravaged neighboring Syria since 2011, fighting alongside regime forces against rebels and jihadists.
Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Monday met with US assistant secretary for terrorist financing Marshall Billingslea.
Aoun said in a statement released by the presidency that "Lebanon is an active participant in global efforts to fight the financing of terrorism and money laundering," adding that "Lebanese security services are vigilant in the pursuit of terror cells and the fight against drug trafficking."
The US Congress implemented a law in 2015 for sanctions against banks that knowingly finance Hezbollah, an arch-rival of US ally Israel.
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday denied Hezbollah was involved in drug trafficking to finance itself, "These are unfair accusations that are not based on any fact, that are not true," he said.
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