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For the first time, the UK Government has exercised its powers sanctioning an individual under counter-terrorism regulations.
On Tuesday, the UK Government sanctioned Nazem Ahmad “as part of continued efforts to prevent terrorism in the interests of national security”.
Ahmad, a Lebanese art dealer, is suspected of helping finance the Hezbollah terrorist organisation by laundering money through his extensive art collection.
The UK has banned Ahmad “from trading in the UK art market, and other dealers in high-value items will no longer be able to conduct business with him and his associated companies”. He has also been charged and sanctioned in the United States.
Baroness Penn, Treasury Minister in the House of Lords, said: “We will always proactively defend our economy against those who seek to abuse it. The firm action we have taken today will clamp down on those who are funding international terrorism, strengthening the UK’s economic and national security”.
Hezbollah poses a significant threat to Israel’s security and the security of Jewish communities worldwide.
34 rockets were fired from Lebanon during Passover, the largest number of rockets fired from Lebanon since the 2006 war.
In March, a terrorist entered Israel from Lebanon and detonated an advanced explosive device seriously injuring an Arab Israeli citizen. The terrorist was later found with an explosive suicide vest in northern Israel, and security analysts believe he likely worked in coordination with Hezbollah and Palestinian terror groups.
Hezbollah and Hamas are currently working in unison. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh reportedly met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut the day before the Lebanon rocket attacks to discuss “the readiness of the axis of resistance”, including Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian and other Iran-backed terror groups opposed to Israel’s existence.
Hezbollah was proscribed in its entirety in February 2019 after only its military wing was banned in the UK.
