US envoy urges EU to ban Hezbollah after Iran militia kills American

US reviews Kataib Hezbollah's role in murder of US contractor

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Allen Grenell is pictured in Berlin, Germany, June 4, 2018. Picture taken June 4, 2018. (photo credit: REUTERS)
U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Allen Grenell is pictured in Berlin, Germany, June 4, 2018. Picture taken June 4, 2018.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The most high-profile US Ambassador in Europe Richard Grenell urged European countries on Saturday to outlaw Hezbollah’s entire organization after an Iran-backed militia reportedly murdered an American contractor in Iraq.
Grenell tweeted: “Now would be a good time for our European allies to follow the lead of the German parliament and move to designate a terrorist organization. #diplomacy."

An American official said the United States was reviewing the involvement of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shi’ite organization, in the murder of the contractor. The contractor was killed near Kirkuk — an oil production site.
The Jerusalem Post reported last week that Germany’s parliament approved a non-binding initiative calling on the government to ban activities of the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah in the federal republic. The motion urged Chancellor Angela Merkel's administration, as well as the EU, to adopt a full ban of Hezbollah.
The EU merely proscribed Hezbollah’s “military wing” a terrorist organization in 2013. Hezbollah’s “political wing” operates within the EU and Germany.
Grenell’s counter-terrorism efforts have proved effective in Germany. The Post learned this year that in every meeting with German officials he urges a comprehensive ban of Hezbllah.
Hezbollah blew up an Israeli tour bus in Burgas, Bulgaria in 2012, murdering five Israelis and their Bulgarian-Muslim bus driver.
The US, Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Israel and Arab League have designated Hezbollah’s movement a terrorist organization, and Sudan reportedly will close Hezbollah’s office in North African country.
There are roughly 1,050 Hezbollah operatives in Germany who recruit new members, raise funds for their parent organization Beirut, and spread lethal antisemitic ideology in the federal republic.