KUWAIT: The ministries of foreign affairs and interior seem to disagree on the mechanism to be used to explain branding the Hezbollah as a ‘terrorist organization’, as previously decided by GCC, said high-ranking diplomatic sources, noting that the government would make its final decision tomorrow.

The sources added that branding Hezbollah as a terrorist organization was subject to the UN’s Security Council. The sources also denied that Kuwait has so far banned dealing with Hezbollah or its members and denied that the Foreign Minister was currently discussing any measure to incriminate Hezbollah as long as the UN and the Security Council have not decided to do so.

The sources confirmed Kuwait’s full commitment to international resolutions banning terrorist organizations. They also called for wide-scale GCC efforts at the UN to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The sources highlighted that GCC states only incriminated Hezbollah’s armed militia and excluded its political wing because incriminating terrorist organizations should be done according to laws.

On the other hand, high-ranking security sources stressed that MoI’s attitude was more decisive and that the ministry was currently preparing a report on the mechanism to follow to put the GCC decision into practice so that the report could be discussed by the Cabinet’s meeting tomorrow.

In response to recent statements made by Chancellor Dherar Al-Assousi, MP Abdulrahman Al-Jeeran stressed that he would propose a bill within a fortnight to brand Hezbollah as a terrorist organization including both its political and military wings.

MP Saleh Ashour said that the GCC decision would only enhance sectarianism in the region and give Israel an excuse to strike Lebanon. “Article 23 of Kuwait’s constitution states that no crime or penalty should be addressed with a law - and this is what the public prosecutor did,” he underlined. —Al-Jarida