US puts up $10 mn reward for Hizballah information

The State Department said it would give the money to anyone who provides intelligence that allows the United States to disrupt Hizballah in key ways.

The areas include information on Hizballah's donors, on financial institutions that assist its transactions and on businesses controlled by the movement.

President Donald Trump's administration has put a top priority on reducing the influence of Iran, the primary backer of Hizballah.

The State Department listed three alleged Hizballah financiers as examples of activities it was seeking to stop, with one, Ali Youssef Charara, allegedly funding the group by investing millions of dollars from Hizballah in the telecommunications industry in West Africa.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has pointed to a recent appeal by Hizballah for donations as a sign of US success in curbing Iran.

On a visit last month to Beirut, Pompeo urged Lebanon to counter the "dark ambitions" of Iran and Hizballah but was rebuffed by Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, who said Hizballah was not a terrorist group and enjoyed a wide base.

The United States has vowed for decades to fight Shia militants in Lebanon, with memories still bitter over the 1983 attack on a military barracks in Beirut that killed 241 Americans.

Hizballah also acts as a proxy for Iran in its conflict with key US-ally Israel.

The group, however, also functions as a political party, with posts in the current cabinet, and enjoys support among some Lebanese who recall its guerrilla campaign that led Israel to withdraw from the country in 2000.

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