Cyprus Criminal Court Convicts Hezbollah Member

A criminal court on Thursday  in the city of Limassol convicted Hossam Taleb Yaacoub of membership in a criminal organization.  The dual Swedish-Lebanese citizen admitted last month that he was a member of Hezbollah and engaged in surveillance of Israeli tourists.

His conviction is the first time that a Hezbollah member has been found guilty of criminal activity with respect to the targeting of Israeli citizens in a European court.

Yaacoub faced eight charges in the criminal court in the city of Limassol. The court is slated to sentence him on March 28.

Hezbollah is not listed a terror organization within the EU. Cyprus reduced the charges against Yaacoub from terrorism charges to criminal charges last year.

Yaacoub admitted that Hezbollah's job was to observe Jews across the globe and he watched Israeli flights land in Cyprus. A few weeks after his activities, two alleged Hezbollah operatives engaged in similar activity and participated in the bombing of an Israeli tour bus in the Black Sea resort of Burgas.

The then Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, announced  in February that Hezbollah operatives were responsible for the July explosion in Burgas that killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian bus driver.

Tsvetanov said the two suspected Burgas perpetrators were members of the militant wing of Hezbollah, and added that investigators have found information showing the financing and connection between Hezbollah and the two suspects.

The EU is discussing a ban of Hezbollah. The Cyprus verdict could play a key role in moving recalcitrant countries like France to include Hezbollah in the EU terror list.

Germany has not taken an active role in pushing for an EU terror designation.

According to Germany's domestic intelligence agency, 950 Hezbollah members operate within the Federal Republic. The Netherlands government is the only EU country to have outlawed Hezbollah. The United Kingdom blacklisted Hezbollah's military wing in 2008.