Naharnet

Bassil Meets Mogherini: 'Resistance Not Terrorism Even if Entire World Says So'

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil held talks Monday in Beirut with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, a few hours after Britain said that it will outlaw Hizbullah's political wing under its anti-terror laws.

“Hizbullah's terror designation by Britain will not have a negative impact on Lebanon, and it is something we have become used to from the other states,” Bassil said after the meeting.

“Britain has informed Lebanon of its keenness on bilateral relations,” he added.

Bassil also stressed that “even if the entire world comes together and says that the resistance is terrorist, it will not make it terrorist in the eyes of the Lebanese.”

“As long as the land is occupied, the resistance will remain embraced by state institutions and all Lebanese people,” the minister added.

Separately, Bassil said a “safe and dignified repatriation of Syrian refugees is the only solution,” noting that the European Union will help Lebanon in this regard.

Bassil threw a dinner banquet in Mogherini's honor after the talks.

Earlier in the day, Britain said it will ban the political wing of Hizbullah, making membership of the movement or inviting support for it a crime.

The European Union put the armed wing of Hizbullah on its terrorism blacklist in 2013, due to Hizbullah's alleged role in blowing up an Israeli tour bus in Bulgaria. But unlike the United States, the EU differentiates between the group's military and political wings.

Source: Naharnet


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