LONDON Ñ The European Union has added five Palestinian groups to its
list of terrorist organizations.
One of the groups is financed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser
Arafat.
The EU issued an expanded terror list on Tuesday that included groups
that already appear on a U.S. terror list. They included the addition of the
Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, financed and controlled by Arafat, the
Damascus-based Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine, the Palestine Liberation Front, the Abu Nidal
Organization and the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.
The Holy Land charity has been blacklisted by Washington and was said to
have served as a means of financing Hamas. The EU placed the military wing
of Hamas on the European terror list.
The EU also placed the Kahane Chai group on its terror list. The group
is named after assassinated Israeli parliamentarian Meir Kahane.
In all, the list contains 35 individuals and 31 organizations. The
Beirut-based Hizbullah was not included on the EU list.
European diplomats said EU countries are not compelled to sanction those
appearing on the terror list. They said European governments are granted the
discretion to impose a range of sanctions or freeze their assets.
