Iran and Syria have separately condemned the addition of Palestinian and Lebanese resistance groups to a US list of alleged terrorist organizations, reported agencies.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi was quoted by Iran's official news agency (IRNA) as saying Sunday that the US move to freeze the financial accounts of the groups, especially those of Lebanese Hizbollah, was incited by "the Zionist regime.”
Hizbollah is a symbol of honor for Islamic and Arab countries and has demonstrated great courage in driving the Zionists out of southern Lebanon, Asefi remarked.
The foreign ministry spokesman said, "Without doubt, there is a difference between acts of terrorism, which are deliberate killing of innocent people, [and] legitimate and internationally recognized resistance to occupation of one's territory."
He called for the participation of all nations, under UN auspices, in delineating an explicit and proper definition of terrorism, which, if achieved, “will set aside all other one-sided and vague concepts of terrorism.”
Meanwhile, a Syrian government newspaper on Sunday criticized the inclusion of Palestinian and Lebanese groups fighting Israeli occupation on the US terrorist blacklist, saying the list damaged Washington's credibility.
"Latest development do not augur well for a change in US policy," said the daily Tishrin.
"US president (George W. Bush) may have raised the issue of a Palestinian state, but Washington caused a great deal of surprise in the region by including organizations in Lebanon and Palestine fighting Israeli occupation on the terrorism list," it said, as quoted by AFP.
Tishrin questioned "the credibility of an anti-terrorism campaign that excludes Israeli terrorism and qualifies its victims as terrorists."
"How can the Arabs participate in the US anti-terrorism campaign when they are attacked by Israeli terrorism in their own territories?" the Syrian paper asked.
On Nov. 2, Washington published a list of alleged terrorist organizations that included the Hizbollah, which spearheaded Israel's ouster last year from southern Lebanon, and several Palestinian resistance groups.
Syria is home to 10 such Palestinian groups and, along with Iran, supports Hizbollah in Lebanon.
Earlier last month, Asefi called on the United Nations to take steps to bring to justice what he called Israeli war criminals and those responsible for targeted terrorist operations against Palestinians as part of measures to stop Israeli violence against Palestinian activists, said IRNA.
He said that according to the United Nations Charter, Palestinian people, who are involved in legitimate resistance to Israeli occupation, should not fall victims to Israeli violence and terrorist operations.
"The Zionist regime does not honor any international commitment or any accord," he said – Albawaba.com
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