American lawmakers are urging France to lead the effort to add Hezbollah to the European Union’s terrorist list.
Joined by 90 congressional colleagues, U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) sent a letter Tuesday to new French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressing deep concern that Hezbollah had been invited to a conference in Paris this month. The letter urged Sarkozy to add Hezbollah to the terrorist lists of France and the European Union.
Hezbollah’s “designation as a terrorist organization by both France and the E.U. would serve as another critical example of transatlantic cooperation to combat global terrorism, enhance Middle East security and confront the growing threat posed by Iran,” the letter said.
It lists attacks against French citizens by Hezbollah, including the1983 bombing of the Multinational Force barracks in Beirut that killed 58 French paratroopers.
Sarkozy in the past has named Hezbollah as an aggressor and is wary of Hezbollah’s relationship with Iran.
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