U.S. Calls On Lebanon To Cut-off Hizbullah From Financial System

The United States has called on the Lebanese government to block Hizbullah’s access to the country’s financial system, amid a renewed push by Washington to crack down on the terror group’s global illicit activities. On a two-day visit to Lebanon, the U.S. Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing briefed both Prime Minister Saad Hariri and President Michel Aoun on the prospective anti-Hizbullah initiative while vowing that any measures implemented would not destroy the banking system underpinning the Lebanese economy. The tacit acknowledgment that Lebanon’s financial sector could be crippled if the terror group’s assets are targeted evidences Hizbullah’s deep penetration of the country, and, in turn, highlights what many analysts view as an apparent contradiction in Washington’s strategy. In this respect, the U.S. firmly backs the Lebanese government—headed by Hizbullah ally Aoun—despite the Iranian proxy’s domination over Beirut; and contributes more than one hundred million dollars in annual military aid even though sophisticated American weaponry provided to the Lebanese Armed Forces has found its way into Hizbullah’s hands. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced earlier this month the formation of a new task force to combat Hizbullah’s vast drug trafficking and money laundering empire, worth an estimated $1 billion annually. That decision followed a Politico report claiming that the Obama administration interfered with a Drug Enforcement Agency initiative—code-named Project Cassandra—to disrupt the Shiite organization’s illegal activities for fear of jeopardizing the nuclear deal with Iran. The U.S. Congress passed the Hizbullah International Financing Prevention Acts in 2015 and 2017, geared towards separating Lebanon’s financial infrastructure from the terror group. However, Lebanese officials have lobbied against Washington’s implementation of those laws over fears that sanctioning Hizbullah could destabilize the country.