News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) The European Union (EU) has resisted adding the Hizbullah party to its list of terrorist organizations despite last year's election of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has spoken out against Hizbullah. American Congressmen have asked the EU to change the status of the party, but the EU said it lacks necessary information to do so. A United Press International analyst wrote that the EU also is worried that such a move would "undermine the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority."

The EU also fears that Hizbullah would retaliate against European troops stationed in Lebanon as part of the United Nations Interim Forces (UNIFIL), explained Michael Jacobson, senior fellow with the Stein Program on Counter-terrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington.