U.S. Says Hizbullah Govt. Role Impeding Action on Hizbullah-Linked 'Terrorist Incidents'

The presence of Hizbullah in the Lebanese government “continues to impede effective government action against terrorist incidents associated with Hizbullah,” the U.S. State Department said in its annual report on terrorism.

“For instance, despite repeated requests by the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to gain access to private properties in southern Lebanon -- from which Hizbullah is suspected to have dug cross-border tunnels into Israel or housed or manufactured weapons -- the Government of Lebanon declined to permit UNIFIL to investigate these areas,” the report adds.

Separately, the report said that despite the Lebanese government’s official policy of disassociation from regional conflicts, Hizbullah “continued its illegitimate military activities in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.”

“Hizbullah continues to plan attacks and engage in other illicit activities around the world,” the report charges.

It also notes that Hizbullah maintains control of “some informal border crossings” and is “widely believed to exercise influence at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport and the Port of Beirut.”

In addition, several individuals on the FBI’s most wanted list or listed by the Department of State or Department of Treasury as Specially Designated Global Terrorists reportedly remain in Lebanon, the report says.