Saudi widens sanctions against Lebanon's Hezbollah

The move is in retaliation against the group's intervention in the Syrian conflict in support of President Assad

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia widened its sanctions against Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah on Thursday, adding 12 names to a blacklist of individuals and firms whose assets in the kingdom will be frozen.

Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia has long been deeply suspicious of Hezbollah, a close ally of its regional rival Iran.

But Riyadh and its Gulf Arab allies have stepped up sanctions against the group since 2013 in retaliation for its intervention in the Syrian conflict in support of President Bashar al-Assad.



"The kingdom will continue to fight the terrorist activities of Hezbollah by all means," the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

It accused the movement of "spreading instability and chaos, as well as carrying out terrorist attacks and criminal and illegal activities across the world."

The new names include Ali Musa Daqduq, a senior Hezbollah commander who was placed on a US sanctions blacklist in 2012 for his alleged involvement in a Shia militia raid in Iraq that led to the deaths of five US soldiers in 2007.



Iraq had released him from prison citing lack of evidence.

In May, Saudi Arabia announced sanctions against two alleged leaders of Hezbollah, including one it accused of "interfering" in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been fighting Shia rebels since March.