EU Holds Fresh Talks on Blacklisting Hizbullah

European Union experts held a second round of talks at Britain's behest Wednesday on whether to add the military wing of Hizbullah to its list of international "terrorist groups," diplomatic sources told Agence France Presse.

After months of hesitation, counter-terror specialists from the 27-nation bloc first met on the issue June 4 but failed to reach unanimity on blacklisting the group.

Formally requested by Britain, "new talks will take place today," an EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

The addition of Hizbullah to the dozen people and score of groups currently on the EU "terrorist list" -- including Hamas and Colombia's FARC guerrillas -- would make them subject to an asset freeze.

Diplomats had said they hoped to have an accord by end June, but while France, Germany and the Netherlands have backed Britain, the Czech Republic is opposed on the grounds this could destabilize Lebanon.

And with other eastern European nations "still needing some time to weigh the issue", as one EU source put it, diplomats held out little hope of an immediate deal.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is visiting Israel on Wednesday and Thursday, is expected to face sharp criticism there on the issue.

If left unresolved the matter could be discussed by foreign ministers or heads of state and government at talks in Brussels next week, another diplomat said.

Wednesday's closed-door talks take place within a committee known as CP931 after the EU's "common position" 931, setting up the bloc's terrorist blacklist. It meets regularly to oversee the EU list.

Despite months of strong pressure from Israel and the United States to follow their example and designate Hizbullah as a "terrorist group," the EU up until this month skirted an issue seen as sensitive and divisive, with Britain openly in favor but France and Italy reluctant.

France feared a negative impact on Lebanon.

There were worries too from France, Italy and Spain for the safety of national troops committed to the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL.

But mounting global concern over the party's active support of Syrian President Bashar Assad finally swayed even the most reluctant EU nations.

In Europe, the mood had shifted somewhat last year after an attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria which Sofia blamed on Hizbullah. In March, a Cyprus court sentenced a Hizbullah member to four years behind bars for planning attacks there.

There was some confusion in Brussels earlier this month however when Bulgaria appeared to backtrack.

But Bulgaria's new Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin was subsequently cited in a statement as telling Ireland's ambassador to Sofia John Rowan that "Bulgaria has not revised its stance on the terrorist act".

"Bulgaria is ready to join a consensus decision of the EU and it is our responsibility to present an even more solid basis for this," Vigenin was cited as saying.

Hizbullah has been on a U.S. terror blacklist since 1995 after a series of anti-American attacks, including the bombing of the U.S. embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut in the 1980s.

Currently, Britain and the Netherlands are the only EU nations to have placed Hizbullah on their lists of "terrorist groups."