{{The United States and its allies are clamping down on suspected Hezbollah activity in West Africa, which Washington says is a major source of cash for the Lebanese group as its patron Iran feels the pinch of sanctions.}}
The push coincides with Hezbollah’s deepening role in Syria, where it has dispatched thousands of fighters to back President Bashar al-Assad. It also comes in the wake of attacks outside Lebanon linked to Hezbollah that Western experts say are part of global campaign that could soon include Africa.
Critics, however, argue that Washington and its allies may be exaggerating the threat and failing to distinguish between different forms of support for various elements of the Shi’ite Islamist guerrilla and political movement, which was founded with Iran’s help after Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
U.S. officials say that while most Lebanese in West Africa have few links to the group, Washington’s financial sanctions have reduced an annual flow of millions of dollars which Hezbollah receives from people and businesses in the region.
Iran remains the main sponsor and armourer of a group which fought Israel with missiles in a month-long war in 2006.
But Western sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear plans add significance to Hezbollah’s other income, U.S. officials say.
“(West Africa) is more important in the sense that what they’re getting from Iran is squeezed. Iran’s capacity to fund Hezbollah has been impaired,” said David Cohen, U.S. treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
“There’s reason to think Hezbollah is not just collecting money but it is also using these outposts as places where they can plan and conduct activities,” he added.
Nigeria, with support from Israel, says it has uncovered a Hezbollah cell and arms cache and arrested has locals it accuses of spying for Iran.
A resource-rich but poorly policed part of the world, which already sees al Qaeda-linked activity, could see future Hezbollah attacks, some Western experts say.
While there are disputes over the scale of the support Hezbollah receives from West Africa, there is little doubt over how important Lebanese businesses are to the region.
With interests ranging from mobile phones, import-export and heavy industry to street stalls and fast-food joints, Lebanese-owned businesses are present at every level of the economy.
But Western security officials and Lebanese businessmen say common use of cash and informal transfers by such enterprises makes it hard to detect whether any engage in money laundering. Businesses move money across borders through friends and family rather than banks. Some may even send cash by the suitcase load.
Individuals targeted in the most recent wave of U.S. sanctions have denied the accusations and complain Washington is penalising charity and family ties with Shi’ite areas of Lebanon where Hezbollah plays a major social and political role.
Rudy Atallah, a former Africa Counterterrorism Director in the U.S. Defense Department said the United States viewed Hezbollah as “the linchpin in all sort of activities – money laundering, drug trafficking and weapons”.
“They feel if they can clamp down on them in West Africa it would have some sort of impact on them back home,” added Atallah, who now is now a private security consultant.
Representatives of Hezbollah in Beirut did not respond to requests for comment. The group gives no detail on its financial arrangements.
It has elected members in parliament but its leadership, facing a permanent threat of Israeli attack, generally stays undercover and limits public comment.
reuters
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