Thursday, April 30, 2020

United States Commends Germany for Banning Hizballah

PRESS STATEMENT
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE
APRIL 30, 2020
We commend Germany for banning Hizballah in its entirety as a terrorist organization and for taking strong action against suspected Hizballah supporters. Obstructing this terrorist organization's ability to plot terrorist attacks and to raise money will further reduce Iran's malign behavior and influence.

The world increasingly recognizes Hizballah for what it is – not a defender of Lebanon as it claims to be, but a terrorist organization dedicated to advancing Iran's malicious agenda. In addition to killing many of their own compatriots, Iran-sponsored terrorist group Hizballah has American blood on its hands and continues to plot and carry out attacks around the world.

With this action, Germany joins the growing ranks of nations that reject the false distinction between Hizballah's terrorist operations and a purported "political" wing, including recent designations by Argentina, Colombia, Honduras, Kosovo, Paraguay, and the United Kingdom. We urge other EU member states to follow suit and hold Hizballah accountable for its terrorist activities.

Saturday, April 25, 2020

U.S. Provides Additional Assistance to Lebanon to Respond to COVID-19

By  | 22 April, 2020 
The United States Embassy is pleased to announce $13,300,000 in new assistance to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Lebanon. These funds include $5,300,000 in United States Agency for International Development's International Disaster Assistance for response activities focusing on the most vulnerable Lebanese, including by supporting private health facilities to properly triage, manage, and refer patients; ensure continuity of essential health services; carry out risk communication and community outreach activities; and increase access to water, sanitation, and hygiene activities in health care settings. Also included is $8,000,000 from the State Department's Migration and Refugee Assistance funding for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR, "the UN Refugee Agency"), to support COVID-19 response efforts to help refugees and Lebanese host communities in need.
The new assistance is in addition to existing U.S. assistance, which has been reshaped over the past month through the allocation of nearly $12 million to address Lebanon's emerging pandemic-related needs. This assistance further builds upon the nearly $4.9 billion in bilateral assistance, including more than $187 million in health assistance, that the U.S. government has provided to Lebanon over the last 20 years. USAID, through the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA), has invested more than $11 million over the past 10 years to support the construction, rehabilitation, and equipping of medical facilities at the American University of Beirut and Lebanese American University. In addition to the bilateral funding, the U.S. has provided more than $2.3 billion in humanitarian assistance to respond to the Syria crisis in Lebanon.
U.S. Ambassador Dorothy C. Shea said, "The U.S. government is helping to impact people's lives, by helping people on an individual and a societal basis to confront this pandemic. We have been pivoting some of our existing assistance programs to make sure that they are being as responsive as possible to the needs on the ground. We have also been drawing on additional resources from Washington, tailoring that assistance with our trusted partners in Lebanon to help meet emerging needs."
For decades, the United States has been the world's largest provider of bilateral assistance in public health. American taxpayers have generously made available more than $100 billion dollars for health globally since 2009. This money has saved lives, protected people who are most vulnerable to disease, built health institutions, and promoted the stability of communities and nations. Of that figure, USAID has invested over $1.1 billion dollars since 2009 to prevent, detect, and respond to endemic and emerging health threats, including diseases like COVID-19.
Across the globe, USAID is supporting countries affected by COVID-19 by providing high-quality, transparent and meaningful assistance. We are working with multilateral organizations, NGOs, the private sector, and other organizations responding on the ground to combat the dangerous pathogen. This includes working with frontline workers to slow the spread, care for the affected, and equip local communities with the tools needed to fight COVID-19. For details on specific in-country response activities, please contact USAID at press@usaid.gov.
For details on the humanitarian assistance contribution to UNHCR, please contact the State Department's Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration at PRM-Press@state.gov.
For more information about novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 from the CDC, please visit: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
For information on COVID-19 from the United States Embassy in Beirut, please visit: https://lb.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/
For more information about USAID's response to COVID-19, please visit: https://www.usaid.gov/coronavirus-covid-19

Friday, April 10, 2020

Reward Offer for Information on Hizballah’s Financial Networks Muhammad Kawtharani

MEDIA NOTE
OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON
APRIL 10, 2020

The U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on the activities, networks, and associates of Muhammad Kawtharani, a senior Hizballah military commander. This announcement is part of the Department's standing reward offer for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of the terrorist organization Lebanese Hizballah.

Muhammad Kawtharani is a senior leader of Hizballah's forces in Iraq and has taken over some of the political coordination of Iran-aligned paramilitary groups formerly organized by Qassim Sulemani after Sulemani's death in January. In this capacity, he facilitates the actions of groups operating outside the control of the Government of Iraq that have violently suppressed protests, attacked foreign diplomatic missions, and engaged in wide-spread organized criminal activity. As a member of Hizballah's Political Council, Kawtharani has worked to promote Hizballah's interests in Iraq, including Hizballah efforts to provide training, funding, political, and logistical support to Iraqi Shi'a insurgent groups.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Kawtharani as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2013.

In April 2019, Rewards for Justice announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of the global terrorist organization Lebanese Hizballah.

Rewards can be provided for information leading to the identification and disruption of:

  • Sources of revenue for Hizballah or its key financial facilitation mechanisms;
  • Major Hizballah donors or financial facilitators;
  • Financial institutions or exchange houses facilitating Hizballah transactions;
  • Businesses or investments owned or controlled by Hizballah or its financiers;
  • Front companies engaged in international procurement of dual-use technology on behalf of Hizballah; and
  • Criminal schemes involving Hizballah members and supporters which financially benefit the organization.

Hizballah is a Lebanon-based terrorist organization that receives weapons, training, and funding from Iran, which the Secretary of State designated as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984. Hizballah generates about a billion dollars a year from a combination of direct financial support from Iran, international businesses and investments, donor networks, and money laundering activities. The State Department designated Hizballah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in October 1997 under the Immigration and Nationality Act, and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in October 2001 under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224.

More information about these reward offers is located on the Rewards for Justice website at www.rewardsforjustice.net. We encourage anyone with information on Hizballah financial networks to contact the Rewards for Justice office via the website, e-mail (LH@rewardsforjustice.net), phone (1-800-877-3927 in North America), or mail (Rewards for Justice, Washington, D.C., 20520-0303, USA). Individuals may also contact the Regional Security Officer at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. All information will be kept strictly confidential.

The Rewards for Justice Program is an effective law enforcement tool and is administered by the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service. Since its inception in 1984, the program has paid in excess of $150 million to more than 100 people who provided actionable information that helped bring terrorists to justice or prevented acts of international terrorism worldwide. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Rewards4Justice.