A top official has said Germany will not ban Hezbollah's political wing following Britain's decision to do so. Germany is under pressure from the United States to take hard action against the Iran-backed Lebanese group.
Image: Reuters/A. Taher
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Germany will not declare Lebanon's Hezbollah movement a terrorist organization, a top official said Friday.
Niels Annen, deputy minister in the Foreign Ministry, told newsmagazine Der Spiegel that the Iran-backed Shiite Islamist movement is a relevant factor in Lebanese society and part of the complex political landscape in the country.
The comments come after Britain last month banned Hezbollah in its entirety, accusing the movement of destabilizing the Middle East.
"The British move is a national decision that has no direct impact on the position of the German government or the EU," Annen said.
The European Union had already added Hezbollah's military wing to a list of banned terrorist groups in 2013.
Hezbollah is represented in the Lebanese parliament and holds three of 30 ministries in the government led by Western-backed Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri.
The movement's armed wing has expanded its influence in recent years in Lebanon and Syria, where, alongside Iran and Russia, it backs the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. In Lebanon, it is considered to be more powerful than the Lebanese army.
Both political party and militant group, the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah is as strong as ever. Its ascendancy has stoked tensions within Lebanon and across the region.
Image: Getty Images/C. Furlong
Rise of Hezbollah
Hezbollah, or Party of God, was conceived by Muslim clerics in the 1980s in response to the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon in 1982. The Shiite group has a political and military wing.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
National support against Israel
Hezbollah emerged in the 1980s as an amalgamation of Shiite militias and played a major role in the Lebanese civil war. It used guerrilla warfare to drive Israeli forces out of South Lebanon — Israel withdrew in 2000. Israel and Hezbollah fought another war in 2006. Its defense of Lebanon against Israel had won it cross-sectarian support and acceptance in Lebanese society.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Zaatari
Backed by Iran
Since its creation, Hezbollah has received military, financial and political support from Iran and Syria. Today, Hezbollah's military wing is more powerful than Lebanon's own army and has become a major regional paramilitary force.
Image: Reuters/O. Sanadiki
Political apparatus
Hezbollah turned its focus to politics following the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. It represents a large section of the Lebanese Shiite population and is allied with other sectarian groups, including Christians. Their political development has mostly come under Hassan Nasrallah (pictured), who became the group's leader in 1992.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Armed wing
Unlike other parties in Lebanon's multi-sided 1975-1990 civil war, Hezbollah did not disband its armed wing. Some Lebanese political groups, such as Prime Minister Saad Hariri's Future Movement, want Hezbollah to put down its arms. Hezbollah argues its militant wing is necessary to defend against Israel and other external threats.
Image: picture-alliance/AA
Terror group?
A number of countries and bodies, including the United States, Israel, Canada and the Arab League, consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization. However, Australia and most of the European Union differentiate between its legitimate political activities and its militant wing.
Image: picture-alliance/Pacific Press/I. Press
Hezbollah enters Syria's civil war
Hezbollah has been one of the main backers of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the country's civil war. Its entrance into the war helped save Assad, one of its chief patrons; secured weapons supply routes from Syria and formed a buffer zone around Lebanon against Sunni militant groups it feared would take over Syria. As a result it has won considerable support from Shiite communities in Lebanon.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Syrian Central Military Media
Sectarianism
Lebanon has long been at the center of regional power struggles, particularly between Saudi Arabia and Iran. However, Hezbollah's military and political ascendancy, as well as its intervention in Syria, have also helped stoke Sunni-Shiite sectarian tensions in Lebanon and across the region.
Image: dapd
Renewed conflict with Israel?
Iran and Hezbollah have increased their political and military strength through the war in Syria. Israel views this as a threat and has carried out dozens of airstrikes on Iran/Hezbollah targets in Syria. Israel has vowed to not let Iran and Hezbollah create a permanent presence in Syria. There is growing concern of another war between Hezbollah and Israel that could draw in Iran.
Image: Getty Images/C. Furlong
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Hezbollah leader calls for donations
Earlier Friday, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said other countries may follow Britain's example at a time when the US is ratcheting up sanctions pressure on the group.
"The sanctions and terror lists are a form of warfare against the resistance and we must deal with them as such," he said in a televised speech, calling on the "popular base" to support the movement with donations.
"It is the responsibility of the Lebanese resistance, its popular base, its milieu," to confront these measures, he said.
Hezbollah's resurgent military strength and possession of a vast array of missiles has worried Israel, raising the prospect of a renewed war between the two sides.
Refugee children in Lebanon
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Berlin focused on political solutions
Annen, who spoke to Der Spiegel after a visit to Lebanon, rejected US criticism that Germany was not doing enough to counter Iran's influence in the region. He said Berlin's foreign policy remained focused on finding political solutions to complex situations.
Germany and the EU have sought to save the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, setting up an alternative financing mechanism to allow trade with Tehran despite unilateral US sanctions.
Lebanon is host to nearly 1 million Syrian refugees, some of whom have started to return home as the war in the country winds down. The humanitarian crisis has made the safe return of Syrian refugees an important issue for Germany.
