June 19, 2008 [LINK / comment]
Venezuela's links to Hezbollah
After identifying two men who have been working for the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Venezuela, the U.S. Treasury has seized assets they own, carrying out President Bush's Executive Order 13224. Ghazi Nasr al Din is a diplomat who recently served as Charge d' Affaires at the Venezuelan Embassy in Damascus, Syria, and has helped Hezbollah with fundraising. Fawzi Kan'an has done fundraising, and has made travel arrangements for terrorist operatives via two travel agencies that he owns. Both men have traveled to the Middle East to meet with Hezbollah leaders. About this case, Adam J. Szubin, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, said "It is extremely troubling to see the Government of Venezuela employing and providing safe harbor to Hizballah facilitators and fundraisers," urging other governments to join in combatting international terrorism. See www.treasury.gov; via BBC.
So what does CITGO flack Joe Kennedy, Jr. think about the government of Venezuela's connections to terrorism? (Oddly, the CITGO heating oil program Web site is down at the moment...) His buddy Hugo Chavez has been accusing the Bush administration of orchestrating terrorism, while giving loud rhetorical support (and at least some material support) to the FARC terrorist group in Colombia.
It is also worth pointing out the parallels between the activities of these individuals and those of Dr. Sami al-Arian, the former professor at the University of South Florida who was convicted on charges of abetting terrorism, and was later deported. He claimed that he was just raising funds for a charitable cause, feigning ignorance about the murderous acts that he helped bring about.